Divided Humanity
by CronaAlbarn48
Summary: The cold war never ended it simply spread to the stars. Humans have never been more united but the division is still there. In the face of Galatic politics how will humanity fair? MAD still exists and now the Citadel must deal with a race that preaches it. The powder keg that is humanity is waiting for the spark of war. Who will ignite it? Beta needed
1. chapter 1

In 1969 the first Human set foot on the Moon, an American named Neil Armstrong. The greatest feat in human history to date. It was meant to be the end of the space race, it was meant to solidify American dominance over the Soviet Union. In 1973 however, the Soviets landed on Mars and the race was back on. By 1974, America had landed on Mars as well and soon it was a race to see who could get the first permanent outpost in space. Surprisingly it was the British who did it first.

Luna Britannia was the first permanent extraterrestrial settlement. With its completion in 1987 it became the first self-sustaining space ,settlement but it would not be the last. It would be joined by and later expanded to connect with other European Lunar bases like the French, German, and Italian settlements. American and Soviet bases were also established.

In 2005 the First Base on Mars is established jointly by U.S.-E.U. Space Agencies NASA and the ESA. It was named Point Hope situated at the base of Olympus Mons. Not long after the Soviets completed their own base, named Lenin's Pride on the Red Planet.

Over the next 5 decades humanity would expand its reach to Jupiter and Saturn establishing bases on their many moons. In 2031 The Space treaty was amended to ban WMDs from being used in any circumstance in space unless it was to destroy threats to planetary life such as planet-killer asteroids and comets. Included in the revised treaty was the agreement that the founding nation that established the base owned the base and the land within a 50 km radius. This meant that the cold war was now interplanetary and expanding.

While the Space race raged between the Joint Space Exploration Agency; USA, Canada, E.U., Japan, and their allied powers, and the Sino-Soviet Space Agency, China and USSR plus satellite states, the Cold war intensified. With access to the vast resources of space, more and more of them were put into the military. Soon the amount of nukes on Earth increased into the tens of thousands.

In 2053 The USS establishes the First true civilian colony on the Moon and equips it with long range interplanetary ballistic missiles. With the Colony on the Earth-facing side of the Moon it was able to hit anywhere on the planet. The North Americans didn't react well to this. Soon both sides were militerizing established colonies all over the solar system and militarizing them. By 2065 more than 30 colonies of varying ethnicities were established across Luna and Mars. While it seemed like humanity was united in the goal of expansion, what set the colonies apart from each other was the clear divides between Capitalism, Communism, Ethnicity, and Religion.

More than 150 years of Communism being in existence firmly established it as an economic policy. It proved that it could work. It proved that it wasn't going to die out. In 2071 the U.N. was dissolved, seeing as most nations were replaced by hostile Factions; The Union of Socialist States,( the Soviet Union annexed Eastern Europe), The European Federation,( the E.U. federalized with Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, United Germany, Greece, and Turkey acting as the border with the Soviets), The United States of North America, (Mexico, Greenland, Canada and USA), The Pan-Pacific Federation,( Southeast Asian, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Oceania, Australia and New Zealand), The African Union,( with support from capitalist space fairing powers in Europe a stable unified African government was established at first as a dictatorship then later a democracy designed to act like the EU with its many cultures, languages, and ethnicities), The Federation of Latin America,( Brazil invaded and conquered South America, the Caribbean, and everything south of the Yucatan peninsula including the Panama canal, EU nations realizing they couldn't protect those regions decide to sell them to the FLA to avoid war) United Islamic Caliphate,( Iran and Saudi Arabia United to conquer Iraq Pakistan Afghanistan the Arabian peninsula and the Levant removing Israel) the Empire of the Raj,( India invades China and Pakistan taking Kashmir and the entire Tibetan plateau it also annexed Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh), and the Chinese People's Empire,( China annexed North Korea but failed to annex communist Southeast Asia due to PPF interference causing southeast asia to join the PPF). With The Earth and her colonies divided between 9 major faction and a new rush for land began.

2080 Earth population reaches 12 billion. Luna has 13 million. Mars 22 million.

Factions and ideologies;

USS: Communist Dictatorial Federation. The communist party representing each member state votes for a leader to rule until they die or are removed by the party. The elected President is dictator however without the parties support they will not last long.

\- Brief history, in 2029 the USSR annexes its puppets in Eastern Europe but loses Yugoslavia as an ally. Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, The Baltics, Poland, and Czechoslovakia are annexed. East Germany staged a coup and drove the Soviets out then united with west Germany. To avoid a war the Soviets allow it. 2036 UIC invades to conquer the Caucuses, Afghanistan, and central Asia. 2042 USS cedes Afghanistan and all territory south of the caucus mountains to the UIC but was able to keep hold of central Asia.

EF: Capitalist Parliamentary Federation. Each member state elects representatives to parliament. The Prime minister is voted into power by the parliament and is in charge for 10 years. They cannot run for the position again.

\- Brief history, In 2035 as a direct result of USS troops on the border the EU federalized uniting Greece, Turkey, Italy, Germany, UK, Ireland, Denmark plus Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, France and the Benelux. Yugoslavia and Switzerland joined 1 year later due to increased pressure from the Soviets to either pick a side or be annexed. European minor states like Monaco and Andorra are annexed while the Vatican remains independent.

UNAS: Capitalist Congressional Republic. Each state elects representatives to Congress which is divides into the Senate and House of Rep. The President is elected by popular vote.

\- Brief history, 2021 Canada buys Greenland from Denmark. 2035 Mexico, due to pressure from the FLA, votes to unite with the USA to prevent invasion. 2036 Canada joins the new union. 2040 the FLA invades to conquer Mexico. FLA Navy and Airforce prove superior and as such take the Carribean from Union hands but are unable to advance on land. 3 years of brutal stalemate and peace is achieved with the Union ceding the Caribbean to the FLA.

PPF: Capitalist Parliamentary Federation. Each member state elects a Rep. to parliament who then elect a PM for 10 years. 2 term limit for the position.

\- Brief history, in 2019 Indonesia invaded Malaysia and the Philippines. 2020 Indonesian annexes both nations, then invades Burma and Myanmar. 2023 The Indonesian Empire invades Australia however Japan and Taiwan intervene and thanks to superior technology conquer the fledgling Empire. 2026 Japan and Australia decide that China and the Soviets are too great a threat to ignore and Unite with the puppeted Indonesian Republic forming the PPF. 2031 China invades Vietnam but PPF forces drive them out. Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia all are integrated into the PPF after only a year of war with China to protect themselves from the empire in the north. This is a significant blow to communism. 2032 South Korea is integrated. Due to its vast differences in language, culture, and ethnicity, the PPF acts like the EU and AU being a mostly decentralised nation with large amounts of autonomy for its varying states.

AU: Capitalist Parliamentary Republic. Each member state elects Reps. who then vote for a PM. 5 year terms but they can only be elected twice.

\- Brief history, in 2019 Egypt falls to a dictatorship, swiftly followed by Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, and The DRC. What made these dictatorships stand out was that they were all taken over by the same group, Africa United. It was a western backed military alliance designed to crush communist uprisings in Africa without drawing in the Soviets by directly interfering. By 2030 Most of North Africa was conquered as was East and South Africa. The DRC fell to communists from Angola and soon the number of countries in Africa dropped to 12. In 2036 the dictatorial AU invades the Communist African nations since the Soviets cannot aid them due to a war with the Caliphate. 2046, 10 years after the start of the war the AU annexes communist africa. 2053 the AU sufferers mass protests against the brutal dictatorships. Fearing a communist uprising during the protests, the AU transitions into a democracy but it would be plagued with revolts, coup attempts, and revolutions till 2075 when its united military finally ends the rebellions. However due to numerous different religions, cultures, ethnicities, and languages, the AU remains the most decentralized of all the factions with each individual state having large amounts of autonomy to prevent full scale civil war.

FLA: Socialist Congressional Federation. Each province elects Reps. to Congress who then elect a PM. However while the PM is the leader of the civilian aspect of the nation, the military is lead by a President who is elected in war time by the Council of Generals and Admirals. The Council takes control of the government whenever war breaks out or a crisis happens. It is made up of the highest ranking military officers and outside of war time obeys the PM.

\- Brief history, in 2018 Brazil is taken over in a military coup to remove the corrupt government. 2019 Brazil annexes Suriname, and Cayenne but purchases Guyana. 2021 Brazil invades Uruguay and Paraguay. 2023 Argentina invades Bolivia however Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru step in try to stop them. By 2025 Ecuador joins against Brazil however due to the harsh jungles of the Amazon most troops of the alliance must be shipped to Bolivia while Argentina invades Chile. 2026 Brazil launches a surprise aerial and naval invasion of Venezuela and Columbia. With most of their men tied up in the south they capitulate quickly forcing the allies to fight a 3 front war. 2027 Brazil pushes into Peru while Argentinians take Bolivia. 2031 Brazil crushes Peru and Chile finally falls to Argentina ending the South American wars. 2032 Brazil and Argentina unite to form the FLA to pacify conquered lands making Portuguese and Spanish the official languages. 2033 the FLA launches a Naval and Aerial invasion of the entire region of Central America and the independent Caribbean nations. 2040 FLA invades UNAS and takes their Caribbean holdings and Mexico but is unable to make it past the Yucatan. 2043 the war ends with the UNAS ceding all of its caribbean holdings. 2044 the EF sells its holdings in the Caribbean to prevent war.

UIC: Capitalist Theocratic Monarchy. Lead by the Council of Allah each member is from 1 of the many schools of Islam spread between the Sunni and Shia faiths. They advise the Monarch on how to run the country as Allah wills it. Local government is more or less democratic however it is heavily Islamic in terms of laws. Each school has their own laws and rules that their people either must follow or are encouraged to follow. The level of enforcement depends on the school. The Monarchy holds much power but is powerless without the Council's approval, and according to them Allah's approval, and the Council is powerless without the Monarch to unite the common folk.

\- Brief history, 2010 Iran and Saudi Arabia invade and divide Iraq. 2015 SA invades Syria. 2020 Iran invades Pakistan. 2023 Iran partitions Pakistan with the Raj agreeing to take in their Muslims to try and end the hostilities between them. 2021 Israel annexes Palestine and names Jerusalem its capital. 2022 Israel invades Iranian backed Lebanon and Saudi backed Jordan in response Saudi and Iran unite military to remove Israel. 2025 Israeli forces are routed and Palestine is put in charge of the Levant. 2026 an exiled Saudi Prince is elected President of Iran and claims the Saudi throne. Saudi king abdicates the same year and the New King unites Iran and Saudi Arabia ending the Sunni-Shia divide on a governmental level. 2028 the King declares a Caliphate and annexes Palestine. 2036 UIC invades the USS to gain control of their oil thus limiting where other nations can purchase it from. 2042 UIC annexes Afghanistan and the South Caucasus ending the war without impacting oil trade substantially like they hoped.

ER: Capitalist Constitutional Monarchy. Each state elects Reps. to parliament and they elect a PM. They serve 10 years for 1 term. The ruling Monarch only has as much power as the Constitution allows. While the Monarch is a figurehead they are loved by the majority of the people making their opinions valued by the parliament.

\- Brief history, in 2019 India forms the Empire of the Raj. 2020 the ER invades Pakistan to take Kashmir. 2023 Pakistani war ends with the partition of Pakistan. 2025 The Raj annexes Nepal and Bhutan. 2026 Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are annexed. 2032 The ER invades the CPE to take the Tibetan plateau and aid the PPF. 2035 The CPE drops nuclear bombs on New Delhi and in retaliation the Raj nukes Beijing. 2045 China cedes The entire plateau. The bloodiest war in modern history with 214 million Indians killed in Chinese nuclear attacks and 360 million Chinese in Indian nuclear attacks. Both nations devastated and forced to rely on their colonies for food due to radiation killing most plants. It was the first use of nuclear weapons in war since WW2.

CPE: Communist Dictatorial Monarchy. The communist party picks the most influential member to be crowned Emperor however this position is both a figurehead and a scapegoat for the communist party. The Emperor has little power outside of what the party gives them and should something bad, happen like Nuclear war, they are blamed while the Party gets away scot free. The position is used to remove Political rivals in the Party by putting them in the public eye. With so much attention the Emperor can no longer manipulate the Party from behind the scenes and can no longer purge rivals. The position is considered a career death sentence.

\- Brief history, in 2020 China annex North Korea and Xi Jing Pi is crowned the People's Emperor by the communist party of China. 2031 China invades Vietnam. 2032 China is forced out of Vietnam and accepts peace due to Indian invasion and PPF interference. 2035 China nukes New Delhi and a day later the Raj nukes Beijing. This would be the first use of nuclear weapons in the war but not the last. The next few days are when most of the casualties happen. 2042 what's left of China surrenders and cedes Tibet. 2045 New Chinese Emperor is selected by the party following Xis mysterious death. 2050 China finished relocating its population to unaffected regions in the largest migration in human history.

Austrian Republic: Socialist Congressional Democracy: Austria followed the old Swiss plan for neutrality due to it being sandwiched between 2 major superpowers. Due to its neutrality it is selected to host the JRCs headquarters on earth.

December 1st 2083. The FLA Completes the world's first launch loop allowing for mass emigration to its colonies. By 2090 most other nations have completed their own. This reduces the cost of maintaining colonies and emigration to said colonies increased by more than 3000%. 2097 The PPF creates the Orion Pulse Nuclear engine allowing for ships in the void to travel from Earth to Mars in Two weeks instead of several months at the closest points. This creates radiation trails between the planets forcing all nations to increasing radiation shielding for ships, stations, and colonies. 2100 The FLA reverse engineers a stolen OPN engine. 2108 all nations use variations of the engine to reach the colonies. 2110 The AU establishes military bases on Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars, claiming the moons for themselves.

In October 2118 FLA scientists uncover the first signs of alien life in an underground archive called The Vault. 2120 The first bits of data from The Vault are translated and the species is finally given the name Protheans based on the Promethei Planum where they were found. 2121 USS spies discover The Vault and panic. They could not allow any other nation to own advanced alien technology and soon go public with the FLA's discovery. With news of not only alien life, but that its tech was in FLA hands, the other nations soon demanded access to The Vault or face total nuclear war. Under so much pressure the FLA agrees and a multinational research team called the Joint Research Committee or JRC is established. In 2122 mass revolts begin to take place across the colonies of the earth based governments for either indepence or representation with the exception of the AU who had already foreseen this issue due to the same thing happening to it back on earth. To regain control of the colonies, and prevent the loss of the archive, most nations agree and restructure themselves. The EF became the United European and Colonial Federation (UECF). The UNAS became the Union of North American States (UNAS). The AU became the United African Colonial Republics (UACR). The FLA was renamed the Federation of Latin States (FLS). The PPF became the Trans-Oceanic Colonial Federation (TOCF). The UIC didn't rename, nor did the CPE, USS, or ER.

In 2130 the first universal translator is created and implanted in both the eyes and ears allowing for the reading and understanding of any language in its database. Problems arose when sounds didn't match the lip movements, causing minor headaches similar to watching a dubbed foreign film. In 2135 access to eezo aka element 0, which is made up of an unknown subatomic particle similar to neutrons, is achieved when a secret room is opened in The Vault. It is a highly flammable substance with the ability to alter the mass of an object when an electric current is ran through it. Positive for more mass, negative for less.

2140 the First eezo based FTL drive is tested by the JRC team allowing for a ship to travel from Mars to Earth in a little over 1 minute. This is more than 3 times the speed of light. 2145 most of the archive has been translated while most of the data is about earth 50,000 years ago several files are found regarding eezo engines and weapons. 2150 Mars becomes the de facto capital for humanities shipyards due to its proximity to the asteroid belt. While expensive and rare, eezo is soon used to create small fleets of ships used to colonize the moons of the gas giants. 2153 The FLS Begins construction of Orbital Defense Network which is used to protect their colonies from both asteroids and rival fleets. due to the division of most worlds the ODN has guns pointed towards the ground and space. Other nations soon follow. 2155 CPE creates the first eezo powered surface to space cannon to target the ODN. The Sentinel Cannons are soon joined by counterparts across the other nations.

As the wonder of alien tech faded, and the military applications became more and more apparent, a new arms race began as humans built more and bigger ships. Soon most of the solar system was claimed or colonized and an apparent lack of both eezo and living space.

2162 March 3rd. The TOCF Science vessel Kyoto's Pride discovers a large source of eezo just outside of Pluto on the ice moon of Charon. With the discovery being sent back to the JRC every nation was soon scrambling to reach the eezo deposits. What they found instead was an unknown alien artifact covered in the ice. Within 2 months the ice was chipped away enough to reach the artifact. As the United Fleet, suggested and controlled by the JRC after the artifacts discovery, moved in closer the Artifact activated and soon began to tear Charon apart. Seeing the destruction of the moon the fleet rapidly backed off as the tuning fork shaped object was revealed. Back on Mars the JRC scientist's were tearing the archives apart trying to find what it was.

On September 5, 2163, the ERSS Gandhi entered the orbit of the Artifact, now called a mass relay, thanks to data from the archives, and received a transmission asking for its mass. Upon transmitting the data the Ghandi was catapulted at FTL speeds out of the solar system. 3 minutes later the Gandhi returned informing JRC that it had traveled to another solar system more than 30 light years away. With this discovery a new era of exploration and colonization began with humans spreading to every world they could reach and opening every relay they could find.

By 2170 the Human population had reached more than 23 billion with 22 billion in the home system either living in massive Arcologies, Orbital Habitats, or Colonies. In 2200 the terraforming of Mars is completed allowing for even more the red planet to be settled and freeing up the resources previously used to terraform. Humanity now controlled more than 30 star systems and 4 garden worlds with most systems being used to mine resources for the fleets.

In 2210 the UACR uses the eezo gravity generator to make the first Gravity bomb capable of increasing gravity in a localized area by 210 times Earth's gravity. This new weapon is banned from use on planets due to the sheer destruction it causes. In 2 months the FLS replicates the bomb and miniaturized it to fit on ship based torpedoes. This however reduced its power to 175Gs.

Fleet numbers: UACR (United African Colonial Republic): 500 corvettes, 250 frigates, 125 light cruisers, 50 destroyers, 25 battleships, 50 heavy cruisers, 8 carriers, 6 dreadnought.

UECF (United European Colonial Federation): 700 corvettes, 350 frigates, 175 light cruisers, 60 destroyers, 60 battlecruisers, 60 heavy cruisers, 10 carriers, 5 dreadnoughts.

UNAS (Union of North American States): 800 corvettes, 400 frigates, 200 light cruisers, 100 destroyers, 100 battlecruisers, 50 battleships, 100 heavy cruisers, 13 carriers, 5 dreadnoughts.

UIC (United Islamic Caliphate): 600 Corvettes, 300 Frigates, 150 light cruisers, 60 destroyers, 60 heavy cruisers, 6 carriers, 10 dreadnoughts.

USS (Union of Soviet States):600 corvettes, 300 frigates, 150 light cruisers, 100 heavy cruisers, 100 destroyers, 60 battlecruisers, 50 battleships, 9 carriers, 5 dreadnoughts.

CPE (Chinese People's Empire):800 corvettes, 400 frigates, 100 destroyers, 20 battleships, 2 carriers, 10 dreadnoughts.

ER (Empire of the Raj): 500 corvettes, 250 frigates, 200 destroyers, 100 light cruisers, 80 heavy cruisers, 30 battlecruisers, 10 battleships, 8 carriers, 8 dreadnoughts.

FLS (Federation of Latin States): 700 corvettes, 350 Frigates, 150 light cruisers, 70 destroyers, 60 heavy cruisers, 40 battlecruisers, 20 battleships, 15 carriers, 5 dreadnoughts.

TOCF (Trans Oceanic Colonial Federation): 600 corvettes, 300 frigates, 200 light cruisers, 150 heavy cruisers, 180 destroyers, 20 battleships, 50 battlecruisers, 13 carriers, 4 dreadnoughts.

Human ships are similar in design because the JRC designed them. All fleets have a 2:1 ratio for corvette:frigates to allow frigates to have 2 escorts each in their wolfpacks. The additional firepower and targets making them more effective in both evasion and attack. Light, heavy, and battlecruiser variants are used for mid-ranged combat with light variants focused in speed, heavy focused on defense, and battle focused on attack. Destroyers are mid to long-range attackers since they have little armour however they make up for it in firepower. Battleships are the heavy mid-ranged ships with both heavy armour and weapons meant to intercept enemy fighters and wolfpacks and destroy them before they reach the carriers and dreadnoughts. Carriers act as troop and vehicle transport with variants for light, heavy, and assault classes meant for speed, defense, and attack respectively and are dedicated long-range ships. Finally, the Dreadnoughts are the heaviest of all ships and acts as long-ranged artillery for the fleet meant to target enemy capital ships, stations, and worlds. Being large and slow they are the perfect targets for enemy wolf packs if left unprotected. Cruisers and battleships alike act as protection for the flagships of the fleet while corvettes and frigates harass the enemy. Destroyers act as support to cruisers and battleships that are engaging enemy fleets. Carries and Dreadnoughts average at 1 km in length and easily dwarf other ships with the closest being the battleship at 500m, Cruisers at 400-50m, destroyers at 300, Frigates at 150-200m and corvettes at 100m. All ships have a front magnetic accelerator cannon and carry basic missiles and flack guns to act as ship to ship and anti-air armaments with the Dreadnoughts having an Eezo empowered Railgun that first decreases the mass of the slug then speeds it up. Each slug is hollow and shaped like a bullet with a small eezo core designed to increase the mass of the slug to compensate for the decreased acceleration on impact allowing for the force to remain constant. The initial shockwave activates the eezo core while simultaneously weakening the superstructure of the target. Mass can also be increased right before impact to increase the force even further however that requires the slug to be equipped with more advanced sensor. Each slug is made of a Titanium-Tungsten depleted uranium alloy with a total mass of 1,000 to 10,000 kilograms or 1 to 10 metric tons. Variants of the slugs range from piercing to fragmentation and even acting as a shell for WMDs to enter the superstructure of a target.

Each ship is specialized for each mission but WMD such as fission/fusion and gravity missiles are only in carriers and destroyers. Due to the size of the fleets, skilled pilots are hard to come by so most fighters are drones controlled by on board V.I.s however they can be remotely piloted when necessary. All carriers come equipped with bombers, fighters, and interceptors, of various designs based on the nation that builds them. How many of each that are on the ships depend on the mission. Likewise transport vessels and ground vehicles are also varied. Each ship comes equipped with a Thorium based reactor varying in size based on the vessel.

The reason that the number of Dreadnought and carriers varies so much is due to both access to resources and military doctrine. For instance, the CPE has more dreadnoughts because its doctrine calls for the decimation of capital ships, since they are the major threat, while the FLS focuses on carriers so they can swarm hostile support ships and leave the capital ships alone as sitting ducks.

2230, humanity now has 9 natural garden worlds and 1 is assigned to each faction. The UACR names their world Zulu's Pride. The USS world is named New Russia. The UNAS world is named Eagle's Reach. The CPE world is named New China to no one's surprise. The ER world is named the Eye of Shiva. The TOCF world is an ocean world with one major continent that makes up 30% of the surface named New Borneo. The UIC world is named Allah's Gift. The FLS world is named Amazonia. The UECF world is named New Geneva. Each world belonged to the aforementioned nation exclusively in order to prevent conflicts.

While decentralized Humanity controls 5800 corvettes, 2900 frigates, 1250 light cruisers, 660 heavy cruisers, 340 battlecruisers, 195 battleships, 920 destroyers, 79 carriers, and 63 dreadnoughts making them a dangerous threat to any who challenge it. In 2235 the Lunar defense ring is created to protect earth. It circles the moon in orbit and is 10 km wide by 3 km thick and is the largest structure in Sol. 2240, humanity controls more than 50 systems with 9 natural garden world and more than 20 colonized systems. Humans settled on every world they could reach, regardless of the environment, building domed and sealed settlements across inhospitable worlds and space habitats in systems that couldn't be settled normally. Total human population reaches 52 billion as many settle on the garden worlds and start families.

June 23rd 2253.

The Joint Research Committee takes command of the Lunar ring, building 10 space elevators at key structural points to connect the ring to the Moon and declares it a freeport for all military and civilian vessels as well as starts construction of a space station at the primary relay node in Arcturus that leads to all human space. It would be completed in 10 years. The Station would be more than 10 km in height and 6 km in diameter at its thickest. The massive station has its own independent military that acts as security recruited from all nations as well as its own fleet that is provided by each nation. It is run by the JRC and acts a neutral ground for humanity as well as a critical refuelling station that is strategically placed at the heart of human space. It comes equipped with more than 1000 Sentinel cannons, 5000 missile launchers, and 10 orbital MAC cannons that can be repositioned to target any hostile ship. It is also covered tens of thousands of flak guns that act as anti air weapons. It comes equipped with humanity's most advanced technology and is primarily a research station and space port.

2264, the CPE discovers a new garden world and name it Shanxi and it has a relay.

December 12th JRC issues the order to activate the relay and 1 science ship heads through with 2 frigates and 4 corvettes as escorts.

They never return.

Authors note: Thanks so to my beta szierera, they helped me clean up this chapter and gave me many ideas and tips. This chapter is mostly world building but chapter 2, which my beta is reviewing, is done and is a much better read. To those of you who don't like these sorts of chapters don't worry. The next one will be short and won't appear till the end of chapter three, which is halfway done.


	2. First contact

Theta system, Relay 314.

"Are these readings accurate?"

"Yes sir. It seems that the relay has been activated from the other side."

"Send the data back to HQ. Activate stealth systems and turn on all scanners. If a new race is making its debut to the galactic stage I want to be prepared in case they are hostile."

"Yes Captain. Data sent back to STG outpost Epsilon."

Turian 13th patrol fleet.

Turian cruiser Wings of Palaven.

"We are exiting FTL now Admiral." The Turian pilot said.

"Excellent. Activate scanners and send a fleet wide message to spread out and start scanning. This is a routine patrol, that being said I want shields up and weapons ready. Last thing we need is to be caught unaware by pirates, or worse, Batarians. Those 4 eyed bastards are getting bolder." said a rather intimidating Turian by the name Desolas Arterius. The Turian General in charge of the fleet's security teams and ground assets.

"General, while I appreciate the enthusiasm this is still my fleet and I would appreciate it if you didn't give orders to my crew when I'm right here." Came a sarcastic voice from the right of the general. This was Admiral Julimus Numodus, the leader of this patrol fleet.

"Apologies Admiral. I didn't mean to step on your toes Julimus."

"It's quite alright General I was just about to order the same thing. Next time try to control your excit-"

"Admiral! Picking up signs of starship debris. Scans show that some of it matches Salarian ships, probably an STG stealth fleet. The rest is unknown, sir."

"Ensign, send a fleet wide message: I want all ships on red alert and for them to regroup with the Wings immediately. Warm up the FTL engines. Whatever detected and destroyed an STG stealth fleet is not only advanced but dangerous as well. Set all scanners to full power, I want to sweep the wreckage for survivors. Drop a beacon and get me connected to FLEETCOM. They will want to know about this. Looks like you were right to be cautious General."

"Sir scans show no survivor but we have identified the unknown ships. It's the Geth." Shouts of shock and disbelief rang across the bridge of the cruisers. "The Geth, but they haven't been seen outside the Veil in close to 300 years! What in the krogan voids are they doing out here?" shouted an understandably shocked Turian.

"Silence." one word, not even shouted, brought order back to the bridge showing just how well disciplined the crew was. "Are you sure it's Geth, ensign?"

"Yes Admiral. The design matches what we know about the Geth. Also, reports coming in from the Frigate Swords of Menae say that the relay is active and even more wreckage is around it. Again, some is Geth but there are also signs of unknown ships in the wrecks."

"Get me FLEETCOM and send orders to the fleet to surround the relay, I want scans on the wrecks and weapons fully charged and aimed at 314. No one gets through that relay without my permission. If they do, fire to cripple any vessel or vessels that come through. If any of our ships try to enter the relay, shoot them. As of right now this system is under quarantine."

15 hours earlier. STG stealth fleet.

The fleet consisted of 10 frigates and 1 light cruiser with the best stealth tech STG had. They were equipped to stay silent for days without loss of heat allowing for the ship to remain powered down for long periods of time. They also came equipped with advanced scanners designed to detect even the most minute traces of radiation in a 10,000,000km in radius before they had to power up the more detectable but stronger version.

"Captain, all systems are green. We are running silent, Ma'am."

"Excellent. Have the other ships been informed?"

"Yes. Captain Colisa. All ships are running silent, shields are at full, the FTL drive is on standby and scanners are working overtime."

Captain Telirn Colisa of the Salarian STG scout fleet was on a routine mission. Enter a system before the Turians or Asari patrol did, discreetly set up stealth scanners to observe whatever experimental tech that was in the other fleet and leave without them noticing. This way STG got its data with its allies being none the wiser. This sort of stealth warfare and information gathering is how the weaker Salarians have maintained technological dominance over the other races. If the Asari or Turians had something new the STG would have a copy in a week, two at max for the small stuff. Her mission was to scan the 14th Turian patrol fleet and the com buoys it dropped to find weaknesses in the code and exploit them. Once found, a small program is added to a buoy designed to listen in to Turain chatter. It was quick, it was simple, and more importantly it was boring. Usually.

"Ma'am, something is coming out of 314. It appears to be a small fleet of ships. Initial scans show that it has 2 frigates analogues 1 cruiser analogue and 4 corvette analogues. Their composition appears to be made up of titanium and tungsten . They don't appear to have shields and their eezo core appears to be extremely inefficient for its size."

"Thank you for the report. Are all ships' findings similar?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Also it seems that the cruiser has no weapons while the frigates and corvettes appear to be armed to the metaphorical teeth. Hold on, yes we can confirm."

"Report, ensign."

"Yes, Ma'am. It seems the cruiser is scanning the system. It's a wideband scan and it won't pick us up Ma'am."

"Good. Get me Epsilon, tell them possible first contact from 314. If they don't respond then stay in stealth mode. We don't know whether they are hostile or not. I will not risk it another Rachni war. Get us in the shadow of the planet, I want to be invisible. Slow burn so they don't detect us and keep all communications short band between the ships. We are going silent until we receive orders. We have several hours before the Turians get here so we have time." Shouts of 'Yes Ma'am' where heard around the bridge as the crew rushed to complete their orders. Like she said, usually.

2 hours later.

"Ma'am, we have a ship entering the system from an FTL jump. It's not the Turians. What are your orders?"

"Scan that vessel. I want to know who it is and why they are here. Get eyes on the 314's. Tell me what they are doing now and if they detected the ship."

"Ma'am, it's a Quarian vessel! It appears heavily damaged. Scans show that it has several hull breaches and it's a cruiser. It's Turian design but this class of ship was decommissioned 130 years ago. IFF identifies it as the QMS Pilgrim's Plight. The 314's have detected it and it seems their cruiser is heading towards it. The rest of their fleet is also enroute, Ma'am."

"Get me Epsilon, tell them that the Quarians are making contact and we missed our chance. I want the Comms of that ship hacked and monitored I want to know what attacked them and what they are telling the 314's"

"Captain Colisa, Epsilon base is on the line. They want a live feed."

"Put it through ensign. Communications, what are the Quarians saying?"

"Captain they are broadcasting an S.O.S. They say they were atta-"

"Ma'am! Mmore than 40 ships just exited from FTL! I'm counting 20 frigates, 15 destroyers, 5 cruisers and … and a Dreadnought." It got silent. The crew visibly tensed.

"Identify those ships! Now! I want to know who made them and why they are chasing a Quarian vessel. Epsilon are you getting this." static. " Ma'am comms are jammed. The ships, they are Geth. Oh no! They have detected us! They're firing!" Panic in the comms officers voice as he said that.

"All ships red alert! Take evasive maneuvers! Pilot, get us out of here now! I want micro FTL jumps away from here." The ship shook as 2 of the frigates near her exploded and 3 more were crippled. "Now, Damnit!"

"Jumping now ma'-" BOOOOM.

3 Hours earlier Quarian Migrant Ship group Rannoch's Hope.

"Status report! Now!"

"Captain, our remaining frigates are dead in the water but we are reading survivors. We have sustained hull breaches on decks 3 through 5. Fires reported on decks 1 and 4 as well as no less than 5 dead and 3 with suit breaches. 7 crew unaccounted for. Both the cargo bay and the cargo are undamaged. We are also detecting no Geth in system, at this time."

"Thank the ancestors. Are the FTL drive and eezo core entact? Can we make another jump?"

"Yes, Captain Zorah. Both the core and drive are undamaged and the we can make another jump. There is a relay nearby. One inactive that leads to unknown space and another that leads to Turian space. If the Turians catch us they will take the cargo and that's if the Geth don't kill us first."

"We don't have much choice. We lost no less than 10 ships getting this. So many good men and women dead. It cannot be in vain. We must get this back to the Fleet. How long will it take us to reach the relay?"

"30 minutes sir. But we need to vent the heating system and discharge our static now or we will come out of FTL half melted and cooked alive. There is a gas giant nearby that we can use as cover to vent and discharge. We need at least an hour to vent the heat and discharge all the static safely as well as seal off the decks that were breached." The comms officer replied.

"Lieutenant we have at best 2 hours before the Geth find us in a best-case scenario but let's vent as much as we can. Get us into the shadow of that giant and start the venting. What's the composition of it?"

"It reads as mostly hydrogen and oxygen with traces of helium. It looks like a failed star. We can harvest some of it to replenish the lost oxygen and even get some water out of it. The helium is unfortunately too low in concentration to extract any reasonable amount for fuel, sir."

"It will have to be good enough. Get an extractor out and begin harvesting the giant and start making water. Begin handing out food and medical supplies to the crew. Not the rations but actual food. Ancestors know they've earned it. I want all scanners set to detect even the smallest of Geth probes. The moment one is detected we jump out before it can scan us. This is a standing order so don't inform me until after the jump. If we must leave the extractor then so be it. This cargo is too precious to lose." Despite his suit's mask hiding his face, anyone could tell Captain Zorah was exhausted.

They had been fleeing the Geth for the better part of 3 weeks and had lost the other 12 ships that were with them. More than a hundred Quarians dead and 12 ships destroyed. All for some cargo that caused the Geth to chase the Quarians thousands of light years from the Veil and into Citadel space. The mission was beyond high risk. It was guaranteed to have casualties and was volunteer only. The price for failure was steep but the reward well worth it. The Geth base code. Just a few thousand lines of code that can be used to finally breach the Geth firewalls. With it, they have a chance of finally taking their home world back.

7 frigates and 5 cruisers snuck into Rannoch's system. 5 teams of marines who had specialized in stealth and hacking managed to make it to the surface while the rest of the ships stayed outside the system and outside the range of the Geth scanners. The teams were equipped with oxygen tanks that could last for days and a system that fed them nutrition paste while they waited. They were deployed in a small asteroid field alongside their depowered drop pods that was headed for the planet. No thrusters and just enough shock absorbers so that they didn't die on impact. The team made planetfall in the meteor storm, thankfully there were no casualties, and then they proceeded to the Geth assembly compound.

Following the Geth uprisings former Quarian systems has begun to be changed by the Geth. Most resources were used to begin construction of a Dyson sphere around the native star. It was centuries from completion but as it was now, it could power the Fleet for decades. Hundreds of Geth ships and stations littered the system and the only reason they got in close enough to deploy was because they didn't use the relays and jumped from system to system until they reached Rannoch. It would be suicide to try the relays with the heavy Geth presence.

3 WEEKS EARLIER QUARIAN GROUND TEAM. RANNOCH. GETH ASSEMBLY BUILDING.

"ALL teams check in."

"Alpha checking in. No casualties."

"Bravo checking in. No casualties."

"Charlie checking in. No casualties."

"Delta checking in. No casualties."

"Echo checking in. No casualties."

"Ok. All teams group up on me. We will approach the western side of the building and make our way towards the access point. I want radio silence from this point on. The techs will shut down the cooling system and that will be our entrance. We have 2 minutes at max before they get it up and running but that fan is the only way we get in. Hand signs only here on out. Let's hope this active camo works against the Geth." Captain Zorah was leading this mission personally. When he heard about the mission he was the first to volunteer.

Of the 5 teams of Quarian marines 3 of them were tech specialist with the other 2 being their security. A large force would be slow and easily spotted so there were only 5 Quarians per team. 25 in total each equipped with silenced weapons, active camo, and a plethora of anti-geth tech. This was the Quarian infiltration unit.

15 techs using the best equipment the Fleet had produced to hack the cooling system of the Geth and shut down the fan system.

"All teams let's move we have 2 minutes before the system restarts and I know they will be on alert." The captain ordered.

As the team made their way into the factory the techs found a terminal. It was nothing like what any organics used, simply being a wireless access point instead of a holographic projection like on an omnitool.

"Ok, I've downloaded the schematics and shutdown the internal sensors. The server room is down this hall towards the center of the building. Good news is there are no active Geth platforms in the building. Bad news is they have restarted the fans so I doubt we will get put that way." Alpha teams lead tech Naaru'Shaalan said.

"Lead the way"

5 minutes of walking later and the team's had made it to the server room.

"Alpha, Bravo, Charlie link up your omnitools' processors and open this door. Make sure we are not detected. Delta and Echo make sure we don't get any unexpected visitors. Remember if one spots us they all do." Zorah said.

"Doors open Captain." Naaru said.

True to her words the doors were open and rows upon rows of servers could be seen.

"How long do you need?" Zorah asked the techs.

"First we need to find the code and that alone could take hours. Then we need to download it." Naaru informed the Captain.

"Well then. Let's get started."

2 hours later.

"Sir we have found it. Beginning download now. Estimated time for completion 20 minutes."

20 minutes later.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

"Ok we have the data let's get out of he-" thud.

Naaru fell down with a hole in her head and a growing puddle of blood surrounding her. A Geth infiltrator unite decloaked and begun firing upon the team.

"We've been compromised, all teams let's move! If we stay here we will all die!" Captain Zorah practically screamed over the radio. " Drop the beacon, we have to get out of here now. Let's hope the fleet can get to us in time." Rael said as he gunned the infiltrator down.

With the Geth now alerted to their presence the building soon began to fill with Geth ranging from basic drones to infiltrators. Nonetheless the infiltration team continued its push out of the factory gunning down any Geth that got in their way.

"Captain we just lost Echo team and Delta is pinned." Rael's second in command Vatuu informed.

"Captain we can buy you some time just get out of here." Delta's team leader shouted as he returned fire on the geth.

"Damn it. All squads let's move, Delta will cover us. We must reach the rendezvous point."

BOOOOOM

"Sir that came from Delta's position. I'm not getting any signals from them." Vatuu said.

"We have to keep moving, we cannot let their deaths be in vain. Keelah se'lai my friend." A moment of silence was had for Echo and Delta.

"Let's go, the extraction point is 10 minutes out. If those bosh'tets didn't know we were here then they definitely do now."

JUST OUTSIDE THE STAR SYSTEM. QUARIAN INFILTRATION FLEET.

"Captain Zorah's beacon was just activated. They have the data and need extraction." The comms officers stated.

"Alright. All ships let's jump right into orbit of Rannoch. Let's get our boys home before the Geth fleets mobilise." Captain Naamma'Leema vas Meezal of the QMS Meezal stated.

One jump later.

"Jump successful Captain. We have locked onto their position. It looks like they are pinned. They are calling for close a close orbital strike at marker 001-3-12." The comms reported.

"Well what are we waiting for, open fire. Also get me targeting solutions for the assembly yard. Bring it down once the shuttles are clear." The Captain ordered.

"Yes sir"

Back on the ground.

"COME GET SOME YOU BOSH'TETS!" The leader of Bravo Team shouted as he gunned down another Geth.

They had made it the extraction point and were awaiting evac. However, the Geth had them pinned and were picking them off one by one. If they didn't get support soon they would be wiped out. The had lost 2 members of Bravo and 1 of Alpha just making it to the site and most of Charlie was injured when an armature unite appeared and destroyed their cover.

"Where is that damn evac!" Zorah popped out of cover and chucked his last EMP grenade at a squad of Geth that was try to push towards them. With their shields depleted they were gunned down quickly.

"I don't kno-" BOOM BOOM BOOM.

The Geth armature units were shredded by orbital strikes as even more rained down on the Geth position. 10 seconds later three shuttles hovered just off the ground and their doors opened.

"Let's move it, evac is here!" The captain shouted. Soon after what was left of Alpha and Bravo helped Charlie into the shuttles and took off. The shuttles seats were noticeably empty. There was no need to ask where the rest of the teams were.

THUD.

" We have docked with the Pilgrim's are preparing for FTL jump." The shuttle's pilot informed the survivors.

"All teams transmit the data to the servers. If even 1 of the ships makes it back with the data then this was a victory. Head down to medical and then get some food. Ancestors know we could use something solid after that horrid paste." Rael said.

Meanwhile on the bridge.

"Captain, we have the survivors on board. Echo and Delta were wiped out. Alpha lost 1 member and Bravo lost 2. Charlie is injured but sustained no casualties. All ships have reported that the data has been uploaded to the servers and Captain Zorah is on his way up now." The comms officer informed the Captain of the Meezal.

The doors to the bridge opened as Captain Zorah entered.

"Sir, all ships are ready to jump and have received the data."

"What are you waiting for then? Let's get out of here. I think we overstayed our welcome. Did you take the pictures?" Rael asked.

"Yes sir. The first pictures of Rannoch in almost 3 hundred years. Did you get the flowers?" the comms officer asked the Captain.

"Yes, I did. When we get back to the Fleet we will once again have Rannoch lilies. We can once again see the glowing violet flowers with our own eyes. I'm just glad the Geth don't seem to care about weeding." Rael replied.

"Sir multiple Geth ships just jumped off the fleets starboard bow! They are firing!" the comms officer shouted.

As he said that the ship shook as round after round impacted the fleets shields.

"Get us out of here now!" Captain Zorah shouted.

And with those words the chase had begun. The infiltrator fleet would jump from system to system for the next 3 weeks while a Geth fleet would chase the Quarians across the galaxy as they tried to flee to friendly space. Only ever stopping to cool down and get their bearings. More than once the Geth fleet caught them destroying more and more ships. Still though, the Quarians ran trying desperately to make it to home. The data they carried too important to lose. However, they didn't make it easy on the geth. In the final week of the chase they lead the Geth to a Batarian slaving world near the terminus. Popping in only long enough to alert them to their presences before popping out again. It could be considered cruel to do that to anyone else, to leave them to be slaughtered by the Geth, but no one miss the slavers. It didn't stop the Geth but it slowed them down enough to buy them some time.

Present day. 1 hour 30 minutes before contact.

"Sir we have begun venting and discharging, and the extractor has been deployed. We have begun combining the hydrogen and oxygen and our water tanks are filling. All fires are put out and we have begun sealing the decks that have been breached. We have found 3 of the 7 missing crew, the others are still unaccounted for. Oxygen levels rising so we won't suffocate sir. The Shuttles have been sent to secure any supplies and survivors from the frigates. Seems that the crew is alive but the ships depressurized. If we had time we could salvage the ships, but as it stands they will need to be scuttled. Reports coming in that both ships have suffered minimum casualties, but their engines will explode soon. Their cores have ruptured. It's only a matter of time before they detonate. Shuttles are picking up survivors and supplies now. We have enough rations for another 4 weeks and only 13 of the frigates crew are dead or missing. They are being evacuated as we speak sir." The officer reported.

"At least we have some good news. Get them to medical stat. I don't want to risk any infections due to suit ruptures. Make sure we are clear of the blast and debris field. I want to be able to jump out of system immediately if the Geth pop up. What's the status of the shields and weapons?" Captain Zorah asked.

"Sir, shield at 30% and charging. Weapons systems offline. Engineering is focusing on sealing the decks and making sure we are not torn apart in our next jump. They say at least an hour before they can even look at it." The officer reported. A small flash appeared followed by another 30 seconds later. Both frigates have exploded. The QMS Pilgrim's Plight was now alone with a Geth fleet just hours out.

1 hour later

"Sir, we are done venting and we have maxed out both the water and oxygen tanks sir. All breached decks have been sealed and engineering reports that we can now jump without tearing ourselves apart. Weapons systems are still offline, but they say they just need to reroute the power from the damaged sections and we will have our guns back. They say they will need at least 10 minutes but we can't jump while doing it. It would overload the systems and fry us. Orders sir?" the officer asked.

"Do not repair the weapons we need to be able to jump to 314. How long till we can jump?"

"FTL drive is spinning up now, jumping in 15 seconds sir."

"Good let's get out of"

"Sir! The Geth fleet just jumped in I'm reading 41 contacts 1 of them is a Dreadnought! Ancestors, that's more then they started with." The officer shouted.

"Jump out! Now!" Rael shouted.

"Jumping in 3, 2, 1." BOOM!

The ship shook, as its shields were hit but nonetheless they had managed to jump. It would take 30 minutes to reach the relay system and they would have at most 10 minutes before the Geth caught up to them. Ancestors guide them.

30 MINUTES LATER

"Sir we are coming out of FTL now. That hit has wiped our shields sir. Thankfully the engines still work but one more hit from any ship and we're done for." The officer said.

"I want a scan of this system, find that relay quickly and get us out of here. We have no shields or weapons so the only thing we can do is run." Captain Zorah ordered.

"Sir relay 314 is active. I'm reading 7 ships of unknown make and origin in system. 1 cruiser, 2 frigates, and 4 corvettes. They have detected us and are on approach."

"Activate the distress signal. With any luck they are a new council race and can help us. If not, then maybe they will understand that we need help. We were not prepared for first contact. See if we can get something set up. Set a course for the Theta relay. We are heading to Turian space."

"Sir the unknown cruiser is hailing us. It seems to be a first contact package. From what I can tell these new aliens look like a mix between us and the Asari. I can't make heads or tails of their language but it seems like there are multiple copies of the same message just in different languages. None that I recognise… wait is that Prothean? They are broadcasting in basic Prothean script as well as several unknown languages. Our translators can make out some of the message but we don't have anywhere near enough data to properly translate their languages. Shall I play the message sir?" asked the comms officer.

"Play it, ensign."

"Hello we dirt people who you? We from dirt -error no known translation- message repeated in various languages.

"Now, I know our translators are not the best and we are dealing with an unknown race but did they really call themselves dirt people?" Asks an understandably baffled engineer.

"Send the package in both Quarian basic as well as the best translated Prothean we can. Maybe they can assist us." Rael said.

"Sir the Geth fleet just jumped in! They are firing at the planet? Oh, ancestors several ships just exploded! Scans say they are Salarians. Oh no, they've spotted us!" shouted the panicking officer.

"Pilot get us to the nearest relay now! I don't care which just get us away from that fleet. We cannot take another hit." Captain Rael shouts.

"Sir the closest relay is 314."

"Just do it!"

3 Hours earlier. Human research fleet. Human Research Ship HRS Innovation.

"Exiting Relay now, Ma'am. All systems green across the board. All ships reporting similar status. We are in a red star system with 1 gas giant ma'am. It appears to be a failed binary star system. Scanner running wideband search indicate another relay just beyond the planet." The officer began listing off other facts and data about the system.

The HRS Innovation was a research ship through and through with no weapons to speak off. Instead it was equipped with the JRC's best scanners and an experimental molecular analysis laser designed to map the molecular structure of anything it scans. With no weapons, the hull was instead covered in countless sensory equipment designed to detect anything from Gamma rays to Microwaves and from gravitational waves to dark energy pulses. It was accompanied by the CPE's vessels who were eager to claim the system for their own. 2 frigates equipped with 1 MAC each designed to launch a half ton slug of metal at nearly .5% the speed of light as well as 10 flak cannons for anti-missile and ship combat as well as 5 torpedo tubes under the 'belly' of the ship with an additional 3 on the underside of each 'wing'. The corvettes didn't have a MAC but instead had 5 flak cannons as well as 7 torpedo tubes on the 'belly and 2 on each 'wing'. The fleet's armour was made of a Titanium Tungsten alloy. This made it durable, as well as heat resistant.

The expedition was led by one Captain Zhou of the People's Navy and he was currently on the Innovation listening to the crew list off all the data regarding the system. It may not have a habitable planet but it did have a gas giant which according to the scans was mostly hydrogen and helium with a surprising amount of krypton. All in all, only useful for mining helium-3 and expanding the CPE's borders. It did however contain another relay and that is when the really interesting part came in.

"Captain it seems the relay is active." The same officer who read the data exclaimed.

This has never happened before. Whenever humanity discovered a relay it was always deactivated. This required more than a simple research ship and her escort to investigate. The captain thought.

"All ships, avoid the active relay. Do not approach at any cost. If it's active then there is no telling what's on the other side and I will not risk the lives of this fleet to find out. When we return to Shanxi I want a priority message sent back to the JRC. Until then keep scanning the system. Who knows maybe we missed something.

2 Hours later

"Sir, unknown ship just appeared out of what we can only assume is FTL. Scans show it didn't come from the relay and is heavily damaged. I see several hull breaches and it seems to be broadcasting something but I can't make heads or tails of it." The officer stated.

"Send the first contact package and broadcast a message in all major languages including Prothean. Cycle this through all languages. 'Hello, we are Humans. We come from the planet Earth. We are peaceful. Are you?' I want that translated now." Captain Zhou stated.

"Sir they are broadcasting a message back. It seems to be in two separate languages 1 is unknown but the other is Prothean sir. It says 'Help attacked by... what seems like metal men'? Anyway it seems to be a distress call. Hold on. We have a picture. They appear to be humanoid with 3 fingers as well as bent shins. They seem to be wearing a suit of some kind. And, Oh Shit! 41 ships just jumped into system the first unknown is fleeing towards Shanxi. I think we found what attacked them. I'm counting 20 frigates, 15 destroyers, 5 cruisers and a Dreadnought or carrier sir. They are firing at the planet and I'm detecting several explosions!" The crew of the bridge was shocked by the first contact with not 1 but possibly 3 factions and a least 1 of them is hostile.

"All ships, evasive action now, make a beeline for Shanxi, we have to get a message back and warn the colony. Fire a drone with a distress message now! If we can't make it back then maybe it can. I want all weapons armed and the MACs loaded. High explosive armour piercing rounds. PILOT get us out of here now." The captain screamed.

"Sir, the Unknowns from the planet labeled U3 have engaged the hostile fleet labeled U2 but they are being shredded. U1 is still approaching the relay and the U3s are moving to intercept both of us! Sir they are firing!" You could hear the fear in his voice.

"We need to protect the drone. Tell the wolfpacks to begin harassing that dreadnought. Get the cruiser beyond the relay if we can but that drone takes priority. If we must sacrifice ourselves to warn our people then so be it. It was an honor gentlemen. Now let's give these E.T.s a show of humanity's stren-" BOOOOM.

In 1 shot the HRS Innovation was destroyed and it's escort soon followed. The human ships only managing to destroy a few fighters. The drone and Quarian vessel would make it through the relay but they would be hunted by the Geth. Neither the Humans or Salarians would make it home that day.

QMS Pilgrim's Plight.

"We have cleared the relay but our engine is falling apart. If we don't land soon we will be stranded here. It seems a drone from the 314's has followed us and it's broadcasting what I assume is an S.O.S. on all frequencies. I'm detecting a habitable planet with a small fleet of ships around it and at least 1 city. I count 10 frigates, 20 corvettes, 5 destroyers, and 1 cruiser. I can also detect what appear to be 10 orbital platforms. I think they are cannons." The ensign stated.

"Land on the planet. We won't make it to the relay and the Geth are right behind us. I feel terrible about what we have lead to the 314's but the Fleet must come first. I have no doubt those Salarians have contacted the Turians so we just have to hide until they get here. I want all crew members to download a copy of the code into your omnitools, so delete everything that isn't vital. If even 1 of us can deliver the data then this this wasn't pointless. Hopefully they won't shoot us out of the sky. Broadcast the S.O.S. in Prothean. They seem to at least have a grasp of it. All engines ahead full."

"Sir we are getting a message from the 314's. It seems they got our S.O.S. They told us to make our way to the mountain range outside the city." The comms officer stated.

"You heard them Pilot take us down. Transmit as much of our data against the Geth as we can. In Prothean of course. Ancestors know they will need it. Keela Se'lai." The captain said.

They would land on the planet escorted to a military base just outside the city and built into the mountain range. It would protect them from any orbital strikes. With the warning from the Innovation the civilians were also escorted to the mountain bunkers while the militia and military all armed themselves. The fleet in orbit as well as the ODN platforms and Sentinel cannons would buy the ground team nearly a full 30 minutes to prepare combined with the extra 20 provided by the Salarians meant that the Humans had time to dig in and prepare. Tanks and fighters were deployed and mines where set up outside the city. Dozens of anti-air guns were set up across the city as the people of Shanxi mobilized. A priority Alpha message was sent back to Earth and soon all of humanity knew of this new threat. It would be nearly a week before reinforcements arrived but until then,

The Siege of Shanxi had begun.

Authors note: Thanks once again to my awesome beta szierera for their suggestions. They helped make this story flow better. Under their suggestions, and to get the next chapter out faster, I have decided to cut chapter 3 in half. It will still be over 5k so don't worry. Be warned I'm not good at combat scenes and to help understand some of the weapons I'll be adding a small description for them at the end. It will not be counted for the 5k so you will still get a decent sized chapter. Chapter 3 will be out next year so if you want to joke about how you waited a year for this don't bother. I'll have beat you to it. Well see ya next year.


	3. The Siege of Shanxi

**Council chambers, Citadel 13.5 hours after first contact.**

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. This matter is simply too important to be put off." The flanged voice of Councilor Ramidas, the Turian Councilor said.

"Not an issue. When a meeting is called that isn't scheduled, it must be something major. So, what is this about Ramidas?" The fast paced voiced of the Salarian Councilor, Azon asked

"Yes, I would also like to know." The Asari Councilor, Tevos, said.

"Approximately half an hour ago the 14th patrol fleet entered the Theta system, they reported the activation of relay 314 as well as the wreckage of several vessels. They identified several as STG as well as unknown vessels that we believe to be from 314. However, the most shocking is the wreckage of several vessels of Geth design." Ramidas stated.

"The Geth! Are you sure? They haven't been scene outside the Veil in almost three centuries.

What were they doing near 314? And why was STG there?" Tevos asked Azon.

"STG monitors all known inactive relays to insure no one can illegally activate them. This includes the ones in the Terminus systems. After the Ranchi War, it was deemed necessary." Azon said.

"That still doesn't explain what happened to the vessels, why the Geth were there, or what happened to the unknowns? I assume they came from 314?" Ramidus asked clearly concerned about the presence of STG in her borders.

"Just got in contact with STG, they have sent me the data and footage from 314." Azon sent the copies to his fellow Councilors. "The unknown vessels did come from 314. Apparently, they were a scout team consisting of 1 cruiser, which scans show was for exploration, and its escort. First contact was delayed as we didn't know if they were hostile. While waiting for the order to contact the 314s a damaged Quarian vessel appeared out of FTL and made contact with the 314s shortly thereafter a Geth fleet appeared numbering 41 vessels in total including a dreadnought and that's when we lost footage. The reason I wasn't informed was due to STG scrambling to go over the data and make the report." Azon continued.

"We will discuss STGs findings later. First, we must deal with both a first contact scenario as well as a possible Geth invasion. Ramidus how many ships were destroyed? Do we know how many Geth are left? What can you tell us about the 314?" Tevos asked.

"We counted 6 Geth vessels destroyed, all of which were frigate weight. The 13th patrol has quarantined the system until reinforcements arrive. They are 13 hours out. Palaven is sending the 3rd, 10th, and 17th fleets, which were designed to fight artificial threats like the Geth. I don't know how many STG vessels survived but they identified 11 vessels, 10 of which

were frigates. As for the 314s, it seems like they were completely wiped out with 7 vessels identified. No wreckage for the Quarian vessel was found. Salvage teams are exploring the 314s vessels but it seems like no one survived. Most of the bodies are unidentifiable, having been charred and shredded by the destruction of their ships. They appear to have little to no shielding and they are humanoid. The vessels are too damaged to pull data from unfortunately." Ramidus stated.

"I'll see if the Republics have any fleets nearby or even ready. We must be on high alert and we must prepare for possible Geth invasion. Ramidus, you can count on support from the Asari."

"As well as from the Union, the moment the data was received the Dalatrasses began preparing the fleets. We can have a fleet at 314 in 20 hours."

"The Hierarchy thanks you for the support but right now i'm more concerned about the 314s, that might be their home world that the Geth are invading and we know the Geth don't take prisoners. Either way they are a threat we can no longer ignore. Send word to the associates. The Council is now at war."

 **Shanxi, Human space, Fort Mao. 1 hour after contact.**

"Get communications backup now! Someone tell me the status of Sentinel and ODN!" General Williams shouted his orders to the rest of the command center. As the General in charge of the Shanxi Colonial Garrison, it was his job to defend the colony from pirate attacks and possibly rival factions. Unfortunately, this left them woefully unprepared for an attack by alien invaders, let alone homicidal machines. It was like something from a bad science fiction movie.

"Sir all ODN platforms have been destroyed and Sentinel cannons 1, 10, and 17 are still operational. All others were destroyed in the orbital strikes. The Fleet has been destroyed but we can confirm that the enemy has lost no less than 17 ships. Communications are back online and it seems the machines have begun deploying ground troops. All units are reporting minimal casualties." The communications officer reported. Losses would have been much worse if the warning never came and much less if the Geth would have been destroyed.

Speaking of warnings.

"What's the status on our guests? Do we have a translator up and running?" The General asked.

"Sir, we managed to set up a basic translation program based on our mutual understanding of Prothean. It's not much, but we can at least have a simple yes or no conversation. They are trying to explain how to beat the robots but we are having a hard time understanding them. They are still refusing to take off their suits, we think they can't breathe in our atmosphere sir. Also, they

have agreed to hand over their weapons and they have given us access to their translator program. We expect to have a translator up and running in approximately 13 hours."

"What do we know about their weapons ensign? Are they similar to the bots'?" asked Williams.

"Sir, they seem to use eezo to lower the mass of and then magnitize sand sized pellets at high velocities and they also seem to have some type of shielding that reacts to high velocity projectiles. Their guns are also much more fragile than ours. As for the bots, I simply don't know. Our ground forces haven't engaged them yet." The ensign reported.

"Send word to our troops tell them what we know so far. Have our teams break into guerilla units and harass their lines. Any large force will be torn apart by an orbital strike. I want to know how slow an object must move to pass through them. How long will our supplies last?"

"Sir, we can hold out for several months with the supplies we have stockpiled but we will run out of ammo sooner rather than later. The civilians are secure for now and aren't resisting the rations."

"At least we have some good news. Any word from HIGHCOM? When will we get reinforcements?"

"We managed to get the message out but long range comms are still down. For now, we are on our own."

 **Geth recovery fleet in orbit of Shanxi 1 hour after contact.**

New species identified. Humans similar in appearance to creators.

Currently harboring creators and potentially in possession of the code.

Citadel amassing reinforcements. Recover fleet will not survive.

Consensus reached code takes priority over the lives of both the creators and humans. All organics are expendable.

Proceed with ground invasion.

 **Shanxi, Alpha company, mobile command vehicle.**

"Do you have eyes on target? Over"

"Positive, eyes on hostile armor. Permission to engage. Over."

"Permission granted. Lead them to marker Tango. Over."

"Alright we are clear to engage all units open fire." The order came from Commander Zhou of the CDF.

BOOM

The Geth armature unit shook as more than half a dozen MPGs slammed into its shields. With its shields depleted it soon came under fire from the rest of Alpha company.

 **3rd squad Alpha company of the CDF. 1 hour after contact.**

"Squad, form up on me." Captain Shi said. 3rd squad was a demolition unit whose current mission was to set up explosives to take out Geth armor. The rest of the 131st were leading the armor units to the ambush.

"We are gonna drop these buildings right on top of them. Let's move it people!" Zhou said.

Due to the superior armor, shields, and weapons of the Geth, the CDF has been forced to use hit and run tactics and other indirect methods. Currently the plan was to cut Geth armor off the planet by leading them to minefields or crushing them with buildings.

"Sir, explosives are set and the rest of 1st platoon are 2 mikes out." PFC Mai Zhou reported

"Alright, squad to your positions."

 **2 minutes later.**

"Contact from 2 o'clock!" a soldier shouted.

"Hold fire. We wait for the armor to reach the ambush. Only reveal yourselves if you have to." Shi said.

"Sir, Alpha company is taking heavy casualties but the bots are following. We should have a visual soon." The soldier reported.

"I've got eyes on targets marking 15 armature units and 83 infantry units on your HUDs. Alright weapons free draw them to marker Tango." Shi ordered.

 **POV PFC Mai Zhou of 3rd squad.**

When I woke up today the last thing I was expecting was to fight alien robots. It started like any morning. I got up, got ready and went on patrol with the rest of the 3rd. Next thing I know the alarm sounded all over the colony and we were ordered to escort the civilians to bunkers under the base. It was going so smoothly and we had evacuated the small population of 13,000 in less than half an hour. Say what you will about the CPE we are nothing if not efficient. Not long after the civilians were secured, we saw the burning wrecks of defense fleet falling from the sky. Soon we could hear the Sentinel cannons firing, aiming at these strange insect-like ships that were entering the atmosphere. Orders came from Shanxi command to avoid large groups so that we couldn't be targeted by the ships in orbit. We were told to scatter and prepare to fight a guerilla war in the streets.

"Engaging targets!" I shouted as I gun down a Geth infantry unit with my QBZ-280. 5 shots and their shields go down 2 more to pierce their armor. After that you put 1 more in the center of the chest, not the head, as that is where their core systems are. In a spray of lead the Geth went down taking a third of my clip with it. When we heard that the enemy was robotic all units switched to explosive round for increased damage. This was the third one I've killed.

"Get down!" my Captain shouted as he pushed me out of the way of a hail of bullets. His bullet riddled corpse fell not far from me.

"Shit! Cover me!" I shouted as I dove for the detonator. All of alpha company was trying to lead these damn bots to the trap but none of it would matter if we lost the detonator.

"All units be advised, the bots are in position! I repeat all units get to cover!" I shouted.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM.

I pushed the detonator and brought several stories of building straight down on top of them. I could hear several more explosions as the Geth began detonating. As the dust began to settle the order came in to check for survivors and destroy any active Geth units. Most of alpha company was dead or wounded and 3rd squad was down to 5 men.

"3rd squad, report!" Commander Zhou shouted. Yes, the commander was my father but he didn't play favorites. He was military through and through.

"Sir, 3rd squad reporting in. Captain Shi is KIA and so are 3 others Sir." I responded.

"Great work 3rd squad, but we aren't done yet. Bravo company is in need of assistance and their demo team is pinned. Your mission is to set the explosives while we relieve Bravo. They are pinned in the valley about 3 clicks south of here. So, you better load up and get moving."

With a new mission and target me and the rest of the 3rd reloaded and picked up more explosives. From the sounds of the explosions I can only guess the other companies are also blowing these bots to bits.

About 2 clicks in we encountered resistance.

"Contact 11 o'clock! Weapons free!" I said as I moved to cover. If one thing the orbital strike was good for it would be creating tons of cover. As the first Geth went down we soon came under fire from three more. I peeked from cover and took out one of their shields and watched as it was shredded by the rest of the squad. Soon all Geth were down and we were moving again.

BANG

Private Xi went down with a hole in his chest.

"Sniper!" Private Xing shouted only to also get hit. He didn't get up.

"Switch to thermal." I commanded my ocular implants to do. All soldiers in all armies have ocular implants that not only translate texts into our native language but also allow us to switch spectrums and even allow for us to magnify objects 3 times. We learned quickly that these machines give off more heat than a human even when they are in stealth mode. This made spotting them easy in thermal.

"Gotcha." I said under my breath. The sniper was in the second story of what used to be a house, now just a blown out shell of its former self. With the sniper in my sights I opened fire and it went down. When their active camo is on they can't use their shields as it drains their power too fast. A fact I was more than happy to exploit.

"All hostiles clear. 3rd squad check in."

Silence.

"3rd squad check in!" I turned off thermals and looked for their IFFs. The last 2 members of the 3rd were dead and I was alone. I had to hold back tears. I had never lost friends before, never even been in a battle. Now all my friends in the 3rd were dead but I had a mission to do. Bravo company would be wiped out and so would Alpha when they got there if I didn't take out those armature units. I had to keep moving.

As I approached the valley I could hear gunshots and explosions ring out, amplified by the hard walls of the valley and echoing for several seconds. I could see Bravo pinned near the middle. I counted 10 destroyed human armor units acting as cover for Bravo. I turned the IFF back on as I looked for Bravo's demo team. They came up dead too. Damn bots.

I could see my target, a small bridge that went over the valley. Just my luck, the bots had it covered.

"All units open fire!" I heard over the radio. Alpha company was on the other side of the bridge, they were drawing the bots away. With the path clear I made my way to the bridge and rappelled to the underside of the bridge.

It took 10 minutes to set the explosives. As I made my way back up I heard the radio crackle again. "Be advised enemy air support has been spotted I repeat enemy air has bee-"

BOOOM

An explosion cut off the radio as I turned to see Both Alpha and Bravo get blown to pieces by enemy bombers.

"No! Father! You damn bots!" I felt nothing but rage as I grabbed the detonator and blew the bridge. I took pleasure in watch those thrice damned bots get crushed under several tons of steel.

"PFC Zhou reporting in. Hostile armor destroyed. IFF reads Alpha and Bravo company destroyed. I'll begin searching for survivors. Over."

"This is Shanxi Command, that's a negative, drones reporting that heavy Bot ground forces are closing in on your position. At least 200 hostiles. Fall back to Charlie company. Over."

The coordinates placed Charlie 7 clicks out. As much as I wanted to stay and look for survivors I know I couldn't fight that many. With reluctance, I proceeded to the rendezvous point.

"I'll be back father. I promise."

 **JRC headquarters, Vienna Austria, Security Council.**

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Security Council, I wish I had better news for you." Chairman Maria Wagner of the JRC stated.

Gathered by video screen were the leaders of the 9 most powerful empires in Human history.

Prime Minister Alphonse Müller of the UECF

President Alejandro Ramirez of the FLS

President Amelia Johnson of the UNAS

President Borris Makarov of the USS

Prime Minister Bokamoso Botha UACR

Caliph Muhammad Abidi of the UIC

Chairman Mao Xi Ming of the CPE

Prime Minister Kiann Lamba of the ER

Prime Minister Olivia Jones of the TOCF

"This had better be important. Do you know what time it is here in New Beijing." Chairman Ming said.

"I'm sure whatever it is, is more important than your beauty sleep Chairman." Came the sharp reply from PM Jones.

"As much as I love watching you two argue like children, I too, would like to know why I was woken up at this hour." President Makarov stated. "Continue, Chairman Wagner"

"Thank you Mr. President. Approximately 3 hours ago first contact with two space age civilizations was made. The first was peaceful and it came from a damaged ship in system now dubbed Ares that existed beyond the Shanxi beta relay. Shortly after first contact, the second civilization, designated Contact 2, appeared out of FTL and opens fire on an unidentified 3rd faction designated Contact 3. The second faction immediately fired upon the research vessel and her escorts as well as the first ship designated Contact 1. Contact 1 then fled to Shanxi and the research fleet launched a drone to warn the colony. We lost contact with the fleet shortly after. 20 minutes after the loss of communications the hostile fleet appeared from the beta relay and proceeded to engage the defense fleet as C-1 proceeded to the Colony. Before communications with the colony were lost we received data that identified C-2 as a hostile machine race. We don't know the status on the ground but we do know that the enemy fleet currently has 12 destroyer analogues, 5 cruiser analogues, and One 1.5km long dreadnought or carrier analogue. The ships use advanced eezo cannons to alter their mass and the magnetically propel them like our MACs. They also have some form of shielding that stops high velocity projectiles. It had 14 frigates but they were destroyed by Shanxi's defenses. All attempts to contact the machines were meet with silence, then force. According to the most current reports, all orbital assets have been destroyed. Based on our data we would need to outnumber the fleet 3 to one and we would still suffer heavy losses. Ladies and gentlemen Human blood has been spilt by a hostile force and we need to unite to stop it." Chairman Wagner informed the clearly shocked council.

"The UNAS 3rd fleet is 10 hours out and will provide support."

"The USS 14th fleet can be there in 11 hours."

One by one each nation began to pledge their forces to the liberation of Shanxi. In total, the combined fleet would number at 1200 corvettes, 600 frigates, 230 destroyers, 670 cruisers of varying weight, 60 battleships, 7 carriers and 5 dreadnoughts. It would be the largest fleet assembled in recent human history. The fleets would rendezvous at New China and then proceed to Shanxi. They would arrive in 32 hours, 35 hours after first contact.

 **Quarian Migrant fleet, Admiralty board meeting chambers. 2 hours after first contact**

"Captain Zorah reports that they have the code but encountered stiff Geth resistance. He has apparently fled to a system beyond Relay 314 in the Turian Theta system. I cannot stress enough how important that data is. We must retrieve it."

"I agree, the reward is worth the risk. We have come this far and lost so much, it cannot be for nothing!"

One by one the Admirals agreed. And with their decision the largest fleet in the galaxy moved. They were 33 hours from the Theta system at the edge of Turian space. The Quarian heavy fleet now speed to Shanxi.

 **Turian 13th patrol. Wings of Palaven. 14 hours after first contact.**

"Understood Primarch, we will hold position until reinforcements arrive." Admiral Numodus said before the call ended.

"Alright that was the Primarch he has informed me that reinforcements will be arriving in less than 13 hours from the 3rd, 10th, and 17th fleets with additional reinforcements from the Asari and Salarians. In 20 hours, we will be heading through Relay 314 but until then we must remain on alert. Get some rest now because tomorrow this fleet will be going to war."

 **Shanxi, Quarian survivors. 13 hours after contact.**

"Captain Zorah, we managed to get the translators working. The human leader General Williams requests your presence." The Quarian ensign reported.

The Captain turned to the stunned human guards who could now understand him.

"Lead the way."

3 minutes of walking later and the party reached Shanxi command.

"General Williams." Rael greater.

"Captain Zorah. I'm glad the translators are working. We have much to discuss especially in regards to the bots that chased you and your crew."

"The geth."

"Excuse me?"

"The bots are called the Geth. They are an artificial intelligence created by my people almost 300 years ago. At first they were just advanced V.I. but then one became sentient. When my people tried to shut it down the sentience spread to other V.I. and soon they lead an attack on my people, driving is off our homeworld and our colonies and forcing is to live on the migrant fleet."

"Why didn't you just find a new planet to live on?"

"We wanted to but the Citadel council at the time wouldn't let us nor would they help us take back our worlds. Instead they exiled us and condemned us to slowly go extinct as we drift through space."

"What is the Citadel council? Are you saying there are more aliens? Are they hostile?"

"The Citadel Council is made up of the 3 most powerful races, The Turians who make up the military branch, The Salarians who make up the technological branch, and the Asari who make up the diplomatic branch. There are other races such as the Volus, Hanar, Drell, Elcor, and those thriced damned slavers the Batarians. There is also the Yagh and Krogan but both are hostile and neither are a part of the council. My people, the Quarians are also not a part of the council races having lost our embassy when the Geth gained sentience. The Rachni are an extinct race that attacked the Citadel more than 2000 years ago."

"That's a lot to take in so let's start somewhere simple. Who are the Batarians?"

"The Batarians are a race of slavers but the Council won't stop them. Bosh'tets have taken millions but the Council doesn't care."

"Alright I can see why you hate them but let's move on to more pressing matters. The Geth, what else can you tell me about them or why were they chasing you?"

"Several days ago, my ship and several others lead a covert mission into the heart of Geth space to steal their base code. With it we could shut down or repurpose all the Geth and take back our homeworld. It went smoothly right up until we retrieved the data. After that we were forced to flee the Geth fleets trying to make it back home. My ship is the only one to survive and

it is imperative that this data make it to the Migrant fleet . I'm sorry for leading the Geth here but I had no other options. The future of my race was at stake."

"I understand wanting to save your species but thousands of good men and women are dying because of you. You will hand over a copy of that data and we will begin working on a shutdown signal for the geth. I should arrest you but instead I have a better idea. You and any able-bodied members of your crew will pick up your weapons and help us fight. Any technicians you have will work on that code. You got us into this mess and your gonna help us get out. On top of that your ship now belongs to us."

"I understand, but when this is over please spare my crew. This was my decision. They had nothing to do with it."

"Fair enough. Now tell me how to best take these Geth down"

 **POV PFC Mai Zhou. 14 hours after contact**

"Eat lead you damn bots!" I shouted as I tore a Geth infiltrator apart with my newly acquired Type 180 machine gun. I lost my rifle when Charlie company was wiped out. I had been fighting for hours and I was tired. I just wanted to sleep. I've killed more than 300 of these damned bots and they didn't seem to like that. I've been running for the last three hours as dozens of Geth hunted me. 7 hours ago i met up with Charlie company and i was assigned to the 2nd squad which was a demo team. The plan was to lead the last of the bot armor to the city and drop more buildings on them like they had done previously. Unfortunately, those bots had finally wizened up to our strategy and set up an ambush. 2nd squad, was shredded by their infiltrators while Charlie company was bombed to oblivion. The only reason I survived was because I had my thermal vision implants on. I tried to warn the 2nd but it was too late. I barely escaped. Now here I was running for my life, exhausted beyond compare trying to make it to Fort Mao and to safety.

I opened fire on a Geth to my left not even stopping to check if it was down. After killing so many of them they had marked me as a priority. Damn bots. My legs burned and my lungs felt like they would explode but I had to keep moving. I was 1 mike out from the fort. If I could just keep going a little lon- BOOOOM

An explosion to my right sent me flying into a nearby store. "D-damn bots."

Darkness.

I could only see darkness. Where was I? Why can't I see anything? I began to panic.

"Hold her down! Get me some painkillers now! Medic bring me more medigel! It's okay human. You're safe." The voice began to fade out. "You're safe."

 **5 minutes earlier POV Captain Zorah leading Quarian ground unit Alpha.**

After my meeting with the General I was told to gather as many combat ready men as i could. Besides me there was 10 other marines including what remained of the ground team from Rannoch. It wasn't much but most of the crew was not trained in anything more than basic combat. They were not soldiers. They gave us these strange weapons that relied on a hybrid clip that acted as both a battery and ammo. Their weapons appeared to be based on magnets with no eezo but they can take a Geth down in 5-8 shots.

Our first mission was to retrieve a HVT and we were accompanied by a full platoon of humans. Echo platoon, Beta company, 6th squad. The HVT was some soldier. Apparently, she was cutting her way through the Geth trying to reach the fort. From what I've heard she has taken down at least 200.

"Contact front 300 meter 2 o'clock! Weapons free!" and with that order I opened fire, bringing down a Geth's shields and my squad mates took it down. I switched targets to the next Geth but it seems more just kept coming. Aim, Shot, Switch, Aim, Shot, Switch. Click click click. "Reloading!" I shouted, still not used to handling clips. Soon, I was shooting again. This weapon may be heavier than I'm used to but it is nice. I spotted someone running down the street, it wasn't Geth. Who was i- BOOOOM

I saw the figure get thrown into a building and I could see the armature unit take aim at it. That's when it hit me. "Commander, armature unit aiming at HVT. I repeat take out that Geth." not long after I shouted that did multiple rockets slam into the Geth. First, it's shields fell then it did as more rockets slammed into it. I rushed from cover to cover until I made it to the building. I saw the prone from of the human, one PFC Zhou, bleed from a wound to her head with her left arm bent the wrong way. I grabbed the Medigel kit I was given and began using it one her. Soon the rest of the platoon had moved up and secured both the area and the building. It didn't occur to me that the Geth might have been in there.

She began to thrash. "Hold her down! Get me some painkillers now! Medic bring me more medigel! It's okay human. You are safe. You're safe. Shanxi command this is Captain Zorah we have the HVT and are proceeding to base. Over."

"Captain Zorah, be advised, hostile air support is on its way. We are deploying our own air assets as we speak to intercept but all Geth in the city seem to be converging on your area. You better hightail it back to base because you are about to have company."

 **Citadel fleet 34 hours after contact. Theta system Relay 314.**

"This is Admiral Vados, of the Citadel Relief Fleet. All ships, prepare to move through Relay 314. Shields raised to max and weapons ready. I have no doubt the Geth are expecting us, so prepare for heavy resistance."

The CRF consisted of 5 dreadnoughts, 1 from each of its parent fleets. 3 Turian, 1 Salarian, and 1 Asari. More than 500 ships were gathered at 314 with one goal in mind. To destroy the Geth and hopefully save a primitive race from extinction.

"Ma'am all ships are green."

"All ships proceed through the relay."

 **35 hours after contact, New China, Shanxi relief fleet.**

"Sir, all ships reporting green."

"This is Admiral Steven Hackett of the JRC. All ships, enter the Relay."

 **Quarian heavy Fleet. 36 hours after contact.**

"Sirs, we have made it to the Theta system but a Citadel fleet is blockading the Relay."

"Ensign get me communications with that fleet."

"Attention Citadel Fleet get out of the way or you will be rammed. All ships, ahead full."

"Yes Admiral."

 **Geth fleet enroute to Shanxi. 37 hours after contact.**

Citadel fleet has entered the relay as have the creators. How do we proceed?

Consensus reached proceed as scheduled.

Live ships not in system.

All organic vessels expendable.

 _Author's note. I have decided to put the weapons descriptions in another chapter. Well, there you have it. The Quarians are racing to save their people, while the Humans do the same, all while the council tries to liberate what they think is a primitive race. And to top it all off the Geth aren't done with Shanxi yet. I hope you are ready because the Cavalry has arrived and this war is just getting started. Thanks again to my beta, szierera, for helping edit this chapter. Chapter 4 will be out in 2 to 3 weeks. Also check out the Codex that I made as it will have all the information I don't put in this. It will also be how I communicate with you guys. I never expected this to be so popular. Thank you._


	4. The Liberation of Shanxi

_**The Liberation of Shanxi. Chapter 4.**_

 **Unknown location.**

Nazara, it is almost time.

The Cycle will continue.

 **December 14, 2264 Gregorian calendar, 2157 Citadel Calendar. Citadel Relief Fleet flagship, SUW Silent Shot. Admiral Vados POV**

"Exiting FTL now Admiral." i heard an ensign say.

"All ship once you identify a Geth vessel fire at will. Get me communications, I want a link established with the 314's. They seem to understand Prothean so we at least have a baseline to work with. Repeat the signal in Quarian standard as well." I ordered. ' _I hope we made it in time. The 314's don't deserve this.'_

"Ma'am, we have identified 18 ships of Geth design in system. We can confirm they have a single dreadnought." ' _That's good, we outnumber them nearly 30 to 1.'_

"All ships open fire, we must clear a path for the landing cra-BOOOM" I was cut off by an explosion that rocked the ship. ' _What was that?'_

"Status report! What hit us?" ' _They must have ordered their ships to enter FTL and bomb us when they saw the relay activating. Clever little programs.'_

"Ma'am, Geth Strike craft exited FTL and attacked the Fleet. Three frigates have been destroyed but most of of the Fleets shields were able to hold."

' _Damn, they got first blood.'_ "Launch all strike craft when we are in range. Jump the Fleet right on top of them and have our analyst's look over their attack patterns. See if we can't wipe out their next wave." I ordered. ' _Two can play this game.'_

I felt the ship lurch forward slightly as we jumped into knife fight range. We would be in a standard semi circle formation to not only prevent their escape but also allow for easier flanking. They say no plan survives first contact with the enemy and they were right. Shortly after we exited FTL everything started going wrong.

"Ma'am, the Geth calculated our jump! The Asari dreadnought Thessia's Pride is dead in the water from a direct hit from the dreadnought and six cruisers were gutted completely! At least 17 frigates were destroyed and no escape pods detected!" The officer in charge of radar told me. ' _Damn it! They calculated our approach vectors and fired accordingly.'_

"Get me firing solutions for that dreadnought! Once you have it blow them out of the sky!" My temper was rising, I knew the captain of the Thessia. The ship shook again.

"Ma'am, the strike craft are back and they are blocking our shot! We can't target the dreadnought. Our point defense is shredding them, but they are ramming our ships! 6 more frigates destroyed and we have lost half our corvettes." ' _How? How did we lose 50 Corvettes so quickly!? Why aren't the shields stopping them. Unless, the suicide ships were covered with disruptor tech.'_ My eyes widened in realisation.

"They are trying to take out the ships that can quickly enter the atmosphere! Tighten up the Fleet! If we don't protect the light ships then we will need to bombard the planet with our dreadnoughts to drive them out!" I shouted my orders. The battle had just started and it was a disasters. 18 ships and their strike craft have destroyed more than 70 ships including a dreadnought and with the dreadnoughts carrying most of the supplies, troops, and landing craft, the loss of one just reduced our ground forces by nearly 15%. ' _Damn Geth!'_

"All strike craft launched Ma'am and they are running intercept. Scans confirm that the Geth fighters have forgone defense and replaced their shields with shield disruptors." An officer reported. ' _That's good at least they will be easy to shoot down.'_

"Ma'am they are targeting escape pods!" ' _Damn it!'_

"Divert any fighters we can spare ro protect those pods!" I saw 5 Geth ships go up in flames before their drive core ruptured and they exploded.

As the battle in space waged on the battle on the ground was getting fiercer. The Geth knew the Citadel fleet had arrived and were becoming more aggressive.

 **Fort Mao, Shanxi, 3 P.M. local time, December 14, 2264. PFC Mai Zhou POV.**

' _Where am i? What happened?_ All I could see was darkness. _Why can't I see.'_ I reached for my eyes and found bandages. ' _Oh thank God.'_ I didn't try to remove them, I had enough discipline to know that doing so could cost me my eyes.

"She's awake. Inform General Williams. PFC Zhou don't move. You have numerous broken bones as well as hairline fractures on most of your ribs. The morphine should be numbing the pain." I heard a voice, probably my doctor, say.

"That explains the numbness, but why is my head bandaged?" I asked.

"You where in an explosion, a piece of shrapnel damaged the implants in your left eye. A few more millimeters and you would have lost it completely. You needed new ones and well, you'll need a few days rest before you can take the bandages off and even then you still have the broken bones as well as a mild concussion to worry about. You aren't leaving this room for at least a week. If we last this long, now if you excuse me General Williams is here and I have to attend to other patients." I felt him put something in my hand. "Push this button if you need anything and a nurse will come to help you." I heard the doctor say. ' _Why does General Williams want to talk to me? I'm just a grunt.'_

"PFC Zhou, how are you feeling?" a new voiced asked me breaking me from my thoughts. ' _I know that voice.'_

"PFC Zhou reporting, Sir." I tried to say loudly, but my throat was hoarse having just woken up.

"At ease Mai, now how are you feeling." he asked again.

"I'm fine sir, a little banged up but i'll be up in a week. Sir." i added quickly. It hurt to talk.

"Here drink this." he handed me a cup of water. "While I'm glad to hear that, that's not what I meant. How are you holding up after the death of your father and your team." I tensed. I didn't want to think about it, about them. I can still see their faces and its worse since that's all I can see in this darkness.

I swallowed. "I'm fine sir. We knew the risks when we enlisted. How are we doing up top Sir?" I heard him sigh.

"You know your father was my friend. We went to the same training camp in New China." This surprised me. ' _Dad never told me that.'_

"I will grieve him when Shanxi is freed Sir. I-is it bad Sir." I could feel myself shaking.

"I won't sugar coat it Mai. We have lost the city and have been forced back to the base. After you wiped out their heavy armaments, they started to simply bombard any and all positions that had even a single soldier nearby. More than half the CDF is gone and the entire militia was wiped out. They stopped their bombardments for some reason and we are still trying to establish communications with anyone." he stopped talking and I could hear someone else saying something. ' _Probably an ear piece.'_

"I have to go Mai. Your father was a good man. He'll be missed."

 **POV General Thomas Williams of the CDF. Fort Mao Command Center.**

"Status report, any word from HIGHCOM?" I asked

"Sir, we can receive short range communications but long range options are still down. We are receiving signals from orbit, Sir. It seems that a third party is attacking the bots, Sir." I heard an ensign tell me.

"Do we know who? Can we get a visual?"

"They are broadcasting in both Prothean and Quarian basic. It seems to be the Citadel and from what our readings suggests they are taking a beating. Our last signal from ODN indicates that 18 enemy vessels remained while at least 500 Citadel vessels have entered the system." ' _Well, if they wanted to impress us they certainly have.'_

"Do we know what they are saying? Someone play the translated message." I ordered.

This is Admiral Vados of the Citadel Relief Fleet. We have come to assist you. I repeat we are friendly. If you receive this message, contact us at this frequency.

"After that they broadcast the message on a loop with the specified frequency. Communications have set up an isolated comms system with no connections to any systems in the base not even the power grid. If this is a trap then they won't gain access to any of our systems. What are your orders Sir?" The ensign asked.

"Connect me to this Admiral. If this is genuine then i'll welcome all the help they can give." ' _I hope they aren't as Zorah described them.'_

"Your on Sir. Broadcasting in Prothean and Quarian basic.." ' _Here goes nothing.'_

"This General Williams of the Shanxi Colonial Defense Forces. With whom am I speaking?" There was a brief but intense silence as we awaited for a reply. This was a first contact scenario after all. ' _With a group of races with a fleet capable of obliterating life on Shanxi.' No pressure._ Finally after 30 seconds we got a reply.

This is Admiral Vados. Glad to hear that there are survivors. What's the status on the ground General?

"Not good I'm afraid Admiral. The city has basically been leveled, orbital defense have been destroyed and long range comms are down. I'm guessing your presence is what is causing the increased hostility in the Geth?" Incase this was a trap, I didn't mention anything the bots wouldn't already know. ' _Until we know they aren't hostile I will not reveal what's left of ground assets.'_

General we are engaged with the Geth in the upper atmosphere. They have deployed all their remaining strike craft to the planet and seem to be converging on a mountain range outside the city. Based on the location of the signal I assume that's where you are currently at?

' _Time for a leap of faith. If the bots didn't know about this place before then they do now.'_ "That's correct Admiral." I turned to our radar operator who nodded in confirmation. "We can confirm hostiles inbound. Can you send support?"

Negatives General, most of our assets are tied up in orbit and what we can spare will be shot down before they can make a difference.

' _Looks like we are on our own for now.'_

"We thank you for the support Admiral. We'll send over all mission critical Intel we can."

We shall do the same. Good luck General.

"Set the base on high alert and prepare for a bombing run. Inform the teams defending Sentinel to prepare for imminent attack. I want the comms array to enter the blast shields. Any AA guns we have left will be blow away so get them back underground. Seal the base and evacuate all levels close to the surface." ' _It's gonna be a long day.'_

 **In Orbit around Shanxi. CRF. Admiral Vados POV.**

"Ma'am, we have receiving the data regarding Geth ground capabilities as well as a first contact package from the 314's. It has the translation programs included."

"Send our own data back and a FCP as well. What does the package say? I'm getting tired of calling them 314's."

"Ma'am they are called Humans, and they seem to be as divided as the Asari politically, scratch that they don't just have similar government types but they are creepily similar." The ensign sent a picture of them to my omni-tool.

' _That is creepy. They are basically pink Asari with fur. Their females could even pose as Asari with a few modifications and it seems we have answered what a male Asari would look like. They seem to be divided into multiple nation states similar to the Asari republics. When this is over we will need a genetic sample to make sure they aren't related.'_

"Comms send word back to the Citadel. Inform them that the this is a new races colony. Send a translated copy of the FCP with all data we have on Geth ground, air, and space capabilities. Now let's clear up the last of the Geth up here and help these Humans."

"Ma'am, all that's left is their dreadnought shall I order the fleet to position themselves in the upper atmosphere?"

"Once that dreadnought is destroyed put us in orbit. How many have we lost so far?" ' _I underestimated the Geth and it cost so many lives.'_

"Ma'am we lost 1 dreadnought, 87 corvettes, 65 frigates, 23 cruisers, and 41 destroyers. Nearly half the fleet. Ma'am." The bridge was silent. ' _18 ships, 18 damned ships took out more than 200 of the most advanced ships in the galaxy designed to combat the Geth. Any normal fleet would have been destroyed by them. Those damn strike craft.'_

"Send orders to the remainder of the fleet to scan the wreckage. I want to know how they managed to get so many struck craft into the system. The only vessel large enough to carry them all is their dreadnought. Speaking of which get me a visual on it." Cries of yes Ma'am rang out and soon i could see what was left of the fleet that killed so many good people. I felt the ship shake and saw a flash light up the screen. The Geth dreadnought had been destroyed and now all that's left is orbiting Shanxi. ' _I know I'll be discharged after this failure but I can't seem to care. Perhaps I'll rejoin STG.'_

"Now that the Geth fleet is destroyed, we can safely enter orbit. I want all our strike craft targeting Geth positions on planet. They seem to have dispersed themselves around the forest and mountains. What's left of the city has been leveled and all but the human fort is left of its infrastructure. Coordinate our strikes with General Williams so we don't accidentally kill their men. Contact the Council, I'll give my report to them in the QEC room." ' _So many dead. What did those Suit rats do to pose them off?'_

As I walked to the QEC I began to read over the report I would give and the data we managed to acquire both from the humans and our own scans. ' _Hmm it seems that the dreadnought focused more on caring strike craft and troops than its forward cannon. A ship that size should have had a much stronger main weapon especially since it didn't need to worry about any crew.'_ I looked up to find myself at my destination. ' _Well here goes my career as an Admiral.'_

I saw the Council appear in all its holographic glory waiting for my report. I know they already got a copy of the report. ' _If not from any offer looking for a promotion then one of the countless spies in this fleet.'_ No doubt want to know how I lost half my fleet and an Asari dreadnought. ' _This won't be pretty.'_

Admiral Vados, we have received your report and we have much to discuss. I heard the fast paced voice of Councilor Azon said.

 _Yes, I for one would like to know why one of my dreadnoughts was destroyed._ Councilor Tevos said. ' _Oh yes she is pissed. I'm definitely getting fired after this. I have no doubt she'll be after my head when I return.'_

 **Councilors I believe the status of the 314's, these Humans, take president over anything else. Their survival is the reason why we sent the fleet. Admiral, what can you tell us about them. The report did contain the FCP but we haven't gotten around to viewing it yet.** Councilor Ramidas said. ' _Who knew it would be a Turian that would be the voice of reason on the council.'_

I cleared my throat. "Esteemed Councilors, I agree with Councilor Ramidas and I shall start with them." They brought up a picture of the humans and I heard Tevos gasp.

"As you can tell, the humans bare a striking resemblance to the Asari, with their females being able to pose as them with a few modifications. Their species also seems to reproduce sexually as seen by the clearly male figure, but that's not what you want to know. While I myself haven't had much time to review all the data, I can tell you that they seem to be divided into 9 major factions similar to the Asari Republics or the Turians before the unification wars. They seem to be highly nationalistic and militant or at least this faction does. While they lack an overarching government, they seem to respect an organization known as the Joint Research Committee or the JRC for short. It seems to be a multinational research group and, based on their knowledge of Prothean, we can assume that they have a detailed data cache somewhere in their space." ' _That's an understatement. They seem to have a better grasp on it than we do.'_

Admiral, do you think it's possible that with their knowledge of Prothean and their similarity to the Asari, that some manipulation may have been involved? Perhaps they are a mutated colony of Asari or vise versa. Azon said.

"To find that out Councilor, I would need a sample of their genetic code and compare it to the Asari's. Currently my Fleet is moving into position over the planet to provide support for the Humans."

Over the next hour I gave my report, covering everything from the first shots of the battle to first contact with the humans.

 _Admiral Vados, you have done well given the circumstances, especially considering that we underestimated the Geth and were relying on outdated data. However once the Geth are dealt with I would like you to return to the Citadel and give a more, in-depth report._ ' _It seems I'll be replaced sooner rather than later.' A diplomatic team is already in route._ Tevos said.

Just then a massive explosion shook the ship quickly followed by another and then another. I felt myself slam into the ceiling before I began to lose consciousness. ' _What hit us?'_

Alarms were blaring as I passed out with the shocked faces of the Council looking on.

 **45 minutes earlier Shanxi command, Fort Mao. General Williams POV.**

' _It's so strange. We are fighting a rogue A.I. but not once did we detect any attempt to access our systems.'_ "Lieutenant, I want all of our systems scanned for a possible intrusion." ' _Something isn't right._ '

"Sir, all systems green, no signs of any breaches." They reported.

' _All systems? Before the attack at least one error would be reported but for everything to be green in a combat zone?'_ "Lieutenant, what does it say about our comms array?" I asked.

"Sir, all comms buoys present and accounted for." My eyes widened in realisation.

"We've been hacked." I whispered. "I want a full systems reboot now! Once our systems are back up I want everything rescanned immediately!"

"Sir, reboot in progress. All systems will be back up and running in 15 minutes." ' _Please let me be wrong.'_

"Sir, systems coming online now. Comms buoys are not responding, Radar arrays are detecting dozens of hostile fighters in the air." The Lieutenant reported.

"Sir, Sentinel is under attack by hostile ground unites." The comms officer reported.

This is Sentinel Control to Shanxi Command, we need immediate reinforcements, I repeat we need reinforcements! We are being overrun by hostile ground assets! We have lost control of all three remaining cannons and have been forced back to the command center! We are taking heavy casualties. I repeat we need assistance ASAP! We cannot hold out much longer! ' _Damn it! How did we miss the hack?'_

"Sentinel Control this is Shanxi Command we read you loud and clear. I want any available unites to make their way to Sentinel Control now! I want our AA guns out and shooting as many of them down as possible. Who do we have in the area?"

"Sir, we have lost contact with Sentinel Control. The only assets we have in the area are from the Quarian volunteers and the remains of the Echo platoon. They are hold up in a bunker 30 minutes out from sentinel control. They are reporting that they have working Scorpion APCs. Radar confirms that enemy air assets are near non existent. Orders sir?" The Lieutenant asked.

"Send word to Captain Zorah to move out. Tell them to relieve Sentinel Control if possible and destroy it if not. I want all our remaining Air assets acting as escort for their team. Get me Admiral Vados. They must leave orbit immediately!"

As soon as the order was relayed, everything went dark, the blast doors shut and locked, and soon emergency lights came on.

"Status report now!" I shouted.

"Sir, all systems are down except short ranged radio and personal electronics not attached to the grid. Reports coming in that all blast doors have closed and won't respond. Ventilation and water are still working but the Hangar doors have locked and won't open. All AA turrets were deployed but with everything down they are sitting ducks. We are completely locked out and we were unable to reach the Admiral!" The comms officer was panicking.

"What of our Quarian researchers? Have they been hacked?" ' _If that damn code was deleted then all these good men and women died for nothing.'_

"Sir, the Quarian ship wasn't hooked up to our systems and as such were not guards are reporting that the code is intact." There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Tell them to disconnect any system that could receive a wireless signal and make sure no one plugs in anything that may be compromised. I want these doors down now! We could be attacked at any moment" ' _Looks like the captain is on his own. I just hope they make it in time.'_

 **Echo platoon, B company, 3rd, 5th, and 6th squads. Vehicle Depot bunker, Captain Zorah POV.**

"Ok people, you heard the General, gear up and let's move." I heard Corporal Tao order. Tao was a proud nationalist and he didn't trust me at all. ' _Understandable considering I brought the Geth here. At least he treats the rest of my team fine.'_

Currently B company had 28 soldiers fit for combat including the four surviving members of my team. The rest of the company was either dead or at the medical center back at the base. The plan was simple. We would take the Scorpions to someplace called sentinel control. On the way we would be joined by reinforcements including what's left of their airforce.

The Scorpion 53 APC was a 6 wheeled vehicle capable of being customized to fit the parameters of most missions. It can be equipped with either duel 50. Caliber machine guns, chain guns, or honeycomb S.A.M. launchers. Despite its heavy armour, the Scorpion was relatively fast for a land vehicle. We currently had a 4 working ones each capable of carrying 8 soldiers including the gunner.

' _It may be a six wheeled death trap but it's main gun looks like it could shred a tank!'_

The first two S-53's came equipped with the 50's, the next was a chain gun variant, and finally we had the SAM variant.

Once we were all loaded up I felt the APC move out. We were 30 minutes from the target and at the moment we are easy targets for any Geth bombers. It would be 15 minutes before we encountered resistance.

Contact front, light infantry units at 2 o'clock. Light'em up. I heard one of the 50's open fire. They know we are here now. Any sign of or reinforcements?Corporal Tao asked.

Negative Sir. No sign of them anywhere. Two hostile fighters inbound eta 30 seconds. Firing SAMs. The driver of our anti-air missiles said before i heard 2 explosions. Hostiles down, our missiles seem to have passed right through their shields. ' _That's not right. Why did it pass through the shields.'_

I was given control of our dual chain guns, much to the Corporals displeasure. We were short on men and I had no experience with with computer systems and they didn't want me driving. I switched to thermal and saw several Geth hiding in the trees 30 meters ahead. "Contact front, 30 meters at 1 and 11 o'clock!" I said over the radio as I opened fire on the Geth. I was joined by both 50's and soon we drove passed the riddled bodies of several Geth. One was crawling from the road. I felt the APC crush it under its wheels. ' _That was oddly satisfying.'_

I heard another explosion as the SAM crew announced 3 more Geth fighters had been shot down. ' _Why aren't their shields responding to the missiles? Do the humans have disruptor tech?'_

Unknown aircraft apear to be engaging the hostiles. Zorah do you recognize those ships? Tao asked. I looked at my screen to see several Citadel fighters shooting the Geth down. Once again their shields unresponsive.

"Yes Sir they are from the citadel. It seems we have reinforcements." I then heard a message in Quarian standard play over the radio.

 **Attention human vehicles, we have establishes atmospheric dominance. We will escort you to your destination.** I saw several troop transports land near the forest.

With our new escort the rest of the trip to Sentinel was filled with the sound of gunfire and explosions as the Citadel forces engaged the Geth. We were soon joined by three Turian prowlers.

When we finally made it to Sentinel command we saw its walls blow down and it's courtyard filled with bodies both Geth and human. ' _What is so important here?'_

We disembarked from the S-53's when I heard a Turian complement the APC.

"Look at the gun on that beauty. I am definitely getting me one of these when this is done."

The radio roared to life as a panicked Williams shouted. All Citadel ships evacua- whatever he said was cut off by three loud booms and then the sky was burning. A Salarian dreadnought was falling!

"No! All Citadel fighters target those cannons! Do not let them fire again. Open fire on the dish!" Corporal Tao shouted. I aimed my gun and fired at radio dish on the building's roof as hundreds of rounds tore it apart. ' _It's a targeting system for surface to orbit cannons!'_

The order came too late as three more shots hit a Turian dreadnought and it too started falling. Soon the fighters were bombing the cannons while we ran to our S-53's.

"We have to get to cover now! When those ships hit they will level everything in a 10 km radius and that's not counting the fireball or the shockwave!" I shouted. The good news is that they will crash on the other side of the mountain's. The bad news is the shock wave will travel through the valley towards us. ' _We'll be flattened by the shockwave alone!'_

An Asari transport ship loaded us up and took us to orbit. Apparently I'm a HVT as the highest ranking Quarian. I looked out the window and saw two massive explosions rock the planet before the fireballs burned down the forest. The Geth may have been driven from Shanxi but the planet would be scarred for centuries. ' _I hope their fort survived.'_ I was lead from the window as we began docking with a Turian dreadnought feeling nothing but guilt knowing I had lead them here. That I had caused this destruction. I knew the humans felt it too as Corporal Tao was glaring daggers into my helmet.

"This is your fault, you damn Xeno! If you hadn't lead them here Shanxi would still be standing! I swear if the civilians died, I'll gut you like a pig!"

When we docked with the Turian vessel, the proximity alarms suddenly went off before a ship wide transmission was played.

This is Admiral Mara Nar Vettos of the Quarian Heavy Fleet. Citadel vessels be advised we are retrieving our men. We will retaliate if fired upon!

The Quarians have arrived.

 _ **Author's note. It seems that all italics, bold, and underlines are deleted when this is updated so if you see words in 'word' it's a thought. Italics were supposed to be thoughts so this will have to do. Well I'm sorry for the wait, as stated previously i was rewriting this chapter over and over trying out different writing styles and this is the one I liked the best. My beta just got back from vacation so an updated version will be posted next week as I type up the next chapter. I'm sorry that this is kinda short compared to my other chapters being under 4.7k in words. Well, Shanxi is burning, 2 Citadel Dreadnoughts have been destroyed, and the Quarians picked a bad time to appear. As you can probably guess there will be consequences for this. But who will be made to pay? Well see ya in February. Peace.**_


	5. The Opening days

**Quarian Heavy Fleet. December 14th, 2264GC, 2157CC Admiral Mara POV.**

When we came out of FTL our fleet numbered at nearly 500, they may not be the best ships out there but sheer numbers it what kept most dangers away from the Migrant fleet. 50,000 guns equivalent to a pistol was still enough to destroy a fleet. It's why we haven't been wiped out or enslaved yet. I could see the Citadel fleet in orbit around the planet, fires still burning on both the wreckage and the world itself. I knew immediately that something was wrong. The Citadel fleet was much too small. _'I know the geth are advanced, but i never expected them to be able to do this much damage.'_

"Scan the system, I want to know just what happened here. Keep communications open, when they respond, I want it on screen and broadcasted to the fleet." I ordered.

"Ma'am, scans confirm that the wreckage is a mix of Citadel, Geth, and Native ships. They also are showing massive damage to the planet, it seems that something of significant weight slammed into the world, maybe an asteroid or debris from the battle. We would need to get closer for a more in-depth scan." I heard the ensign report.

"Negative, tell the fleet to hold their position and keep their distance from the Citadel. The last thing we need is for them to fire upon us. Are we receiving any signals from The Plight?"

"Negative Ma'am, either its been destroyed or its being jammed. Hold on, we are receiving a message from the Citadel fleet."

As per my orders they put it on screen. And I saw a Turian in an officers uniform appear.

This is Admiral Numodus of the Citadel Relief fleet. You are in violation of the quarantine as ordered by the Citadel Council. Power down all weapons, engine's, and shields and prepare to be bordered. Refusal to cooperate, or attempt to engage will result in your destruction. You suit rats caused enough problems today.

His racism wasn't unexpected but it was disheartening. Turians were not our biggest fans. Hell we are not liked by anyone really. But his orders could not be accepted.

"This is Admiral Mara of the QHF, we will not power down anything. We are here on a search and rescue mission. We are not in Council space nor are we a Council race. You have no power or jurisdiction here. You are outnumbered and heavily damaged. We will retrieve our people and be on our way. Hostile action will we met with lethal force. This is your only warning Turian. You will return any Quarians you've captured and you will stand down. We both know that as you are you cannot win. We are sending a ship to pick up the survivor's."

I was bluffing of course. Even a damaged and numerically smaller fleet could still cripple the heavy fleet. Not to mention the retaliation against Quarians, both in the fleet and on their pilgrimage. _'We can't risk a war with the Citadel, but we need that data. I just hope they are actually alive.'_

"Ma'am, transmission coming from the planet. Its being broadcasted on all frequencies. It's the Pilgrim's Plight!"

"Play it. I'm glad they are alive."

This is Tamar nar Dawn of the Pilgrim's Plight. We are grounded on the planet in an underground bunker, coordinates attached. The bunker has collapsed in several areas. We have civilians and native forces trapped under the wreckage. We are transmitting the data to all ships in orbit. To Citadel forces this is the Geth base code. It is imperative that it be used to stop the Geth. We are also transmitting the altered code which the human's have created to disable Geth forces. It's incomplete but it cannot be lost. We are running out of power, air, and medical supplies. All relevant data is being transmitted. We are in need of assistance asap.

"Our people are alive and they are trapped. Set a course for that planet, and make sure that the data is copied and that every Quarian has a copy. Get me the Citadel fleet."

Cries of yes ma'am rang out as the fleet moved towards the scarred world, now named Shanxi thanks to the data. We could see the Citadel fleet also moving towards the planet. Hundreds of fighters and transport craft were launched towards the planet. We didn't have that luxury. We were prepared for a space battle, not a planetary incursion. Never the less I ordered what craft we did have to head towards the coordinates of the base.

"Rescuing survivors is now our top priority. Any and all available craft will deploy planetside to assist the citadel forces. Remember so not fire unless fired upon. Send a shuttle back to the fleet with the data. Tell them to stick to major relays for as long as possible. The last thing we need is for any unsavoury groups getting it and building a Geth army."

 **Shanxi relief fleet. 20 minutes to Shanxi. Admiral Steven Hackett POV.**

' _First encounter with alien life and it starts a war.'_ He sighed ' _I am a simple man. I was born in London, joined the UECF navy when i turned 18 before transferring to JRC when i turned 23. I quickly rose through the ranks and now at the age of 34 I am one of the youngest admirals in the JRC navy. Now simply because i was the closest JRC admiral I'm in charge of the largest fleet ever gathered by humanity. More than 2500 ships including 7 carriers and 5 dreadnoughts.'_

I rubbed my temples to try to fight off the coming headache before drinking a cup of New Genevan tea. _'Definitely better than the tea in MRE's.'_ i sigh again. _'I was on a simple patrol mission. All I had to do was make sure that pirates didn't harass the civies. Now here I am leading a multinational coalition to fight a war against an unknown enemy, with unknown numbers and superior everything. Hundreds of admirals, all a better choice than me, passed over because I work for the JRC.'_

When we last left the security council they agreed to send an Armada to free Shanxi from the robots, but following this arguments soon broke out trying to decide who would lead the fleet. Dozens of names were suggested and all were shot down based on everything from politics, to past actions, to distance away. In the end the council picked one Steven Hackett to lead the fleet. He was young, neutral, and close to Shanxi. He hadn't has time to make any major waves, pardon the pun, in the politics of warfare or international relations. He was skilled at fighting off the smaller and faster pirate fleets that loved to raid trade routes in the outer colonies and despite his relative youth, he was an effective leader. One the council hoped could truly unite the fleet. Following this decision, all colonies major and minor were put on high alert with the ones closest to Shanxi coming under Marshall law. The human war machine that had been focused on simply out pacing itself now focused on dealing with the potentially much larger and more advanced enemy. Millions were going to be drafted to fight in the coming war. At any given moment there was roughly 27 million active military personnel most in the colonial garrison or one the varying fleets across human space. With more than 50 million in reserve the main issue with mobilization is always supplies and transportation. Factories, abandoned for one reason or another, began spinning up, decommissioned ships were to be refurbished and reinstated, and billions would be expected to contribute to the war effort. Despite the fact that the response fleet would be there in less than 2 days, it would take months to mobilise, train troops, build ships, and equip said troops. The only reason the fleet would get there in time was due to the fact that these were the main battle fleets of their host nations. But despite all this, despite the potential to raise an army in the billions, a fleet in the millions, and a war economy valued in the trillions, it all depended on the liberation of Shanxi. _'If I fail, if the enemy fleet drives us back from Shanxi, the moral of humanity is fall, and with it the war effort. No pressure.'_

"Sir we are approaching the Shanxi relay. Orders sir?" I heard an ensign report. I hadn't even had time to learn his name since I was immediately transferred to the FLSS Carrier Rio de Janeiro. _'Here we go.'_

"Open comms to the fleet." cries of yes sir met my order.

"Your on sir."

"This is Admiral Hackett. I'm not gonna lie to you, we are going up against an unknown enemy with superior technology. As you all know we will be fighting robots that have no care for life. We don't know what we'll find on the other side. But what I do know is that whatever it is. It will regret attacking humanity. All throughout history we have faced genocidal madman with dreams of world domination and time and time again we have crushed them. This will be no different. We have been preparing for a robot uprising for centuries and now here we are facing a race of terminators that have made the mistake of attacking us. Millions of movies, games, and simulations have prepared our entire race for this day. So let's show these tin cans exactly what happens when they attack us." I heard cheers ring out across the bridge as the comms ended. Members of the crew congratulating me on my speech. But I knew it would be that simple. In everyone of those movies the machines almost always wipe us out. They were simply smarter and easier to replace. Still this should hopefully give the crew the moral it needed. _'I need a drink.'_

"Helmsman, take us through. Only fire upon vessels that match the bots, remember, we have friendly xenos in system and chances are they have friends. We are already in one war we don't need another. If any captain gets too trigger happy, tell them I'll personally throw them out the airlock." And with that order the fleet finally entered the Shanxi relay.

 **Shanxi, Citadel Relief Fleet, Admiral Numodus POV.**

Rescue operations were going well. We already rescued most of the human civilians and relocated them to the unscathed hemisphere on this Shanxi. With the Quarain translation program we can at least communicate with them properly. _'These humans can make a sturdy bunker that's for sure. Not to mention their, Sentinel cannons was it? Those things do pack a punch. They tore through 2 dreadnoughts with full shields in just three shots. What are these humans fighting that made them build such things? Are we their first contact? Or are they just as militarized as us Turians. I'll have to go over the FC package more thoroughly. But not now. Damn suit rats brought devastation to a planet owned by a militarized power. Even if their ships are weak and unshielded their ground weapons are incredibly effective if primitive.'_ I shook my head. I needed to focus. Any moment either the Geth or humans could enter this system guns blazing and i need to be ready. ' _I just hope that these humans are as reasonable as the ones on planet.'_ The humans, while grateful, didn't trust us much. Whatever those suit rats told them combined with the attack by the Geth have left them cautious if not outright hostile to any aliens on world. Already the Quarians have abandoned the world when the humans began attacking them. _'Not that I blame them. Not only did they build the Geth but they brought them here. Their homes destroyed, and their world burning. No doubt this colony will be scrapped for decades. Poor humans.'_

With the death of Admiral Vados meant I was now in charge of the whole fleet. I had never commanded anything larger than a patrol group and now I have to pacify the natives and keep them from killing the Quarians still trapped in the rubble. Those suit rats stubbornly remained in orbit, refusing to leave any one of them behind. One way or another they will be punished. If not by the Citadel then by these humans or the Geth.

The panicked voice of our ladar officer broke me out of my thoughts.

"Sir, thousands of contacts are pouring out of the secondary relay! Scans show they are Humans warships. 1200 corvettes, 600 frigates, 230 destroyers, 670 cruisers, and 60 battleships,12 dreadnoughts, ! They just performed an FTL jump! Contact with the fleet in 2 minutes!" My eyes widened, that was nearly 3000 ships!

"Spirits! Get us on red alert. Charge shields but keep weapons disabled. I want communications established with the Quarians', the ground teams, and the survivor's! Do not fire unless fired upon! Get me Admiral Mara!"

"Comms established with the Quarians sir."

Admiral Numodus. I assume you too have detected the Human fleet. My ships will not fire upon the humans and u urge you to do the same.

"I was just about to say the same thing. Do not power your weapons, when they exit FTL broadcast on all frequencies. Let's hope they are in a talking mood." _'With the Quarians were outnumbered nearly 4 to 1. Spirits I hope they are willing to listen._

"Sir, the Humans gave exited FTL 20,000km from the fleet and are rapidly approaching! They're hailing us!"

"Put it through now!" I ordered. I was relieved they were talking first.

 **This is Admiral Steven Hackett of the Shanxi relief fleet. You are currently trespassing in CPE space. Identify yourself or we will open fire.**

"This is Admiral Numodus, of the Citadel Relief Fleet. We are here to assist your people. The machine race that attacked you was the Geth and we have driven them from your world. Most of your civilians are alive and safe at a refugee camp in the southern hemisphere. We will send you the standard first contact package with the coordinates as well as translation programs. We are friendly but we will retaliate if fired upon." I stated calmly even though i was panicking on the inside. If they attacked now then we will die. We may destroy hundreds of their ships but 12 dreadnought to our 2 were not good odds.

This is Admiral Mara of the Quarian Heavy Fleet. We, much like the Citadel, are here to help. Several of our citizens are trapped on your world and we are working with local and citadel forces to rescue those still trapped in the rubble.

 **Attention Citadel and Quarian forces. We are deploying to the planet. You will evacuate the planet immediately and exit the orbit of Shanxi. If you power up your weapons you will be fired upon. Once we have established an FOB in Shanxi we will contact you to meet on the planet. If you have any of our citizens on board your ships you are to release them into our custody at once. Failure to comply with any of these conditions will be treated as an act if war and we will respond accordingly. We will expect any and all data on these, Geth to be sent to us as well. Admiral Hackett out.** Comms disconnected with the Humans and soon their fleet began to enter orbit.

"Well that went better than expected. Pull All ground forces off the planet. They can care for their people better than we can. Send the humans we rescued back to the surface." It hurt my pride to follow orders from these aliens but this was their world, and I'd rather not piss off that fleet. _'It's nothing compared to the Citadel fleet but then again what is?'_

Admiral Numodus, we must stand united if they turn hostile. They outnumber greatly.

"If they turn hostile I'm taking my fleet and beelining it back to citadel space. My fleet is already damaged from the battle with the Geth. You can stay and fight if you want but im taking my fleet home." I cut comms with the Quarians.

"Get me General Arterius."

Admiral. I have received the orders to pull back. I take it the Humans have arrived?

"You are correct General. Good news is they didn't shoot when they saw us. Bad news is they don't trust us. Not that I blame them. Alien fleet orbiting your still burning planet. Frankly I'm surprised they were this friendly. Anyway we are leaving. Once the humans make it to their fort and take over rescue operations we are heading back to citadel space so the diplomats can take care of it. The Geth are still out there and now that the council has begun mobilising for war we can expect even more action. Hopefully with the data we gained we won't suffer as many losses in future battles."

I'm not looking forward the coming days Numodus. This is the worst first contact we've had since the Rachni, Not even the Batarians were this bad. At least we aren't the target of these humans anger. That's reserved for the Geth and Quarians. If anything good comes out of this it will be the end of the Geth threat.

"Admiral comm buoys up and running. Shall I patch you through to the Council?" With the loss of the Silent Shot, we lost our QEC to the Council. With QECs being so expensive to make and only ever being able to be paired with one other QEC, the loss of one meant the other had to be scrapped as well. One of the reasons the Silent Shot was the flagship of the fleet, despite its lack of firepower compared to a Turian dreadnought, was its direct line to the Council. With it gone, they had to rely on the buoys from the 14th patrol to reach the Citadel.

"I'll give them my report in the conference room." And with that I left the Bridge leaving the Captain in charge of his ship.

Making my way to our secure conference room I contacted the Citadel.

 _Admiral Numodus? If you are in charge i assume Vados is out of commision? What do you have to report?_ Councilor Tevos asked.

"Esteemed Counselors, Admiral Vados is dead. I have sent the full report as well as all data gathered on both the Humans and Geth. Despite this tragedy we successfully made peaceful contact with the Humans when they entered the system. They have requested that we leave the planet which I have accepted to do. Currently, my forces are assisting with search and rescue as well as protecting the rescued Quarians."

Speaking of the Quarians, what exactly did they do to anger both the Humans and Geth? Counselor Azon asked.

"To answer your question Counselor, from what we have gathered, by both interrogating the Quarians and interviewing the Humans, we have determined that the Quarians performed a secret raid on their home world to retrieve the Geth source code, and they succeeded. Currently we have both the original code as well as an altered version made by the humans in a hope to disable the Geth. According to one Captain Zorah, his ship was the only one to survive the raid that killed the crew of 11 other vessels. The Quarians were incredibly desperate to retrieve this data and were willing to not only sacrifice their crew but the human planet as well and that is what has angered the Humans. When you lost contact with my predecessor Admiral Vados, two more of our dreadnoughts were destroyed, including the Admirals ship, by Geth controlled colonial surface to orbit cannons. When they crashed it destroyed what was left of their city and horribly scarred the planet. It even partially collapsed the last stronghold on the planet, their colonial fort. We estimate 90% of the colonists in the bunkers survived however, most of if not all defense forces are are dead or injured and we are still clearing away the rubble. Once the system is secured I request that a Fire unit be sent with the diplomats to help stop the wildfires that are raging across the world."

 **I will send the fire control fleet to offer our aid.** Counselor Ramidas said.

 _Admiral I want you to pull back to the relay and wait for the diplomat. We are currently mobilising our respective fleets and sending the to the Veil to prepare for Geth invasion. Currently we can't spare any additional fleets for at least two weeks. What we can spare is heading towards the terminus systems invade they decide to attack while we are weak. Admiral when the Quarians have their people escort them out of system. We cannot look like allies with the ones who lead the Geth to Shanxi when the diplomats arrive. That being said until then try to get the Quarians to cooperate so we can at least not look weak and divided before we can begin talks._ Tevos said.

I can have an STG ship in system in 3 standard days. This way we can at least monitor if they are gearing up to attack Council space in retaliation, even if such an action is unlikely. Azon said.

 **Seconded.** Ramidas said.

 _We will have a diplomatic team ready in the same time. Try not to start an incident and keep the Quarians on a leash. If they act up inform us and we will make it clear of the consequence to their migrant fleet should that start acting rash._ Tevos said with clear contempt in her voice.

The Quarians had screwed up first contact with humanity and made them distrusting towards aliens. To Tevos, the loss of a favorable first impression will hamper any and all negotiations for years.

"Understood Counselor. I make sure to keep the peace the best i can over here. I'll make sure the humans don't kill the Quarians and vise versa."

For the 20 minutes I was debriefed by the Council, clarifying all their questions ranging from human government to biology. The humans were a mix of Asari and Quarian in many ways some of which were so similar I couldn't help but wonder if the Protheans did experiment on them. Thankfully, DNA taken from the Humans confirmed that, no they weren't the long lost cousins of the Asari thou it was shocking how similar they were.

 **That will be all Admiral. Keep us updated on any and all changes. Until the diplomats arrive you are representing the Council and its interests.** And with that the Council ended the call. I sighed, I seemed to be doing that a lot recently. _'No pressure.'_

 **Shanxi Refugee camp. December 1yth. 4 days after first contact. PFC Mai Zhou POV.**

' _Today's the Day. The day i get off this damned rock._ " Once it was clear the Citadel fleet was not hostile, evacuation of the planet began. The last of the survivors have been pulled from the rubble. Shanxi was new colony. We only had about 22,000 people living here not counting the Garrison. After the battle nearly 80 civilians and 3,000 militia were dead. Of the 2,000 or so in the Garrison, 1,700 were confirmed dead or missing and we had been reduced to a measly 200 still capable of combat. The rest are either dead or too injured to fight, myself included. Until I can get new implants I'm unfit for combat. The first evacuated were those in critical condition, quickly followed by the civilians. It took nearly a full day to evacuate all the injured simply because they took up more room for the medical equipment. Now it's finally my turn to leave. Since my injury isn't fatal, I had to wait for all the civilians to evacuate. Not that I'm complaining, if I could see I would be up aiding with evacuations, but i can't and I'm confined to the field hospital, which in and of itself is maddening since I can't walk without bumping into something or someone, or falling at every bump on the ground. General Williams decided I was to remain in my tent unless I was escorted by someone. _'I will not lower myself to request help walking.'_ I scowled.

Anyway, I could still hear and let me tell you, the rumors spread about me and my actions on the battlefield are down right hilarious. The stories they are telling bring a smile to my face despite the circumstance. Apparently I'm some sort of Angel of Death here to reap the non existent souls of the Geth, as I learned they are called. There is even a rumor that I'm immortal due to how many times I avoided death when the Geth were hunting me. _'It's not my fault they can aim and needed to blow me up to stop me.'_ I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

Despite having the highest kill count of any survivor, I was still just that, a survivor. I survived my team getting wiped out multiple times. I survived the assault that killed my father. I survived the hunters that eliminated every soldier i joined up with just trying to make it to safety and i survived the destruction of Shanxi.

After today this will no longer be a civilian CPE colony, this will no doubt be a military base for the JRC. It borders alien space and all major infrastructure was destroyed in the attack and subsequent impacts. No this was definitely gonna become a military planet. It was the smart move.

 _ **RED ALERT! RED ALERT! GETH ARMADA DETECT A**_

 _ **IN SYSTEM. I REPEAT A BATH FLEET IS IN SYSTEM.**_

' _No, no, no, no, NO! Not now, why now? The diplomats are supposed to be here tomorrow!'_ Why are they here, they have to know that their code is long gone.

"PFC Zhou, we have to get to the evacuation shuttles now!" My escort was Corporal Michael Sheppard of the UNAS Marine corps.

He grabbed me I was hefted onto his shoulder. I would be embarrassed if I wasn't so terrified. We don't use the word Armada lightly, it almost always meant a fleet over 1000 ships strong and if the Geth have numbers on top of their tech then we are screwed. They nearly wiped out the Citadel fleet with less than 50 ships, against 1000 or more we don't stand a chance.

I was panicking and i could tell Sheppard was too. He rushed us to the shuttles. I could hear the order for complete evacuation. We were completely abandoning Shanxi.

 **In orbit above Shanxi. Steven Hackett POV.**

' _Today started off so nice too. The last of the Quarians were off world and they were preparing to leave. The Citadel fleet was assisting in fire control while we waited for their fire fleet and diplomats. Evacuations were nearly completed. It seemed like nothing would happen and negotiations with the Council could begin, but no a Geth fleet numbering 500 corvettes, 250 frigates, 100 battleships, 400 cruisers and 200, 10 dreadnought/carriers. 1,460 warships far more advanced than my own. At least we have the numbers.'_ Indeed I do have the numbers, 3,553 vessels from the Quarian Heavy Fleet, the Citadel Relief Fleet, and the Shanxi Relief Fleet. All three were in orbit of Shanxi for varying reasons. We outnumbered them nearly 3 to 1. The good news is the Citadel relay was on the far side of the system while the one that lead home was far closer. We had approximately 20 minutes before they get here.

"Get me Admirals Mara and Numodus now!" _'I just hope we can evacuate in time.'_

The Second Battle for Shanxi had begun.

 _ **Authors note. Sorry for the delay but life you know. Any way the second battle has started and the first true battle of Geth war has begun. I'll have to slow down updates since I'm working on two stories right now. The first is this and the second is A wedding to remember. Because of this ill be slowing to 1 chapter each per month. Unless I'm smacked by my muse. The main reason this took so long was because I was deciding whether to make true first contact with the Council go south or not. My awesome beta talked me out of it in the end pointing out that the Geth threat would keep both sides from pissing the other other off. Sadly college life won't let them be my beta any more. Next chapter will be a break from the fighting and focus on how the galaxy's is reacting to not only first contact but a war with the geth. Just so you guys know I read every comment and try to respond. Well, see ya next time. This is unbetaed.**_


	6. Update 2

so I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is I have 2 new chapters for divided humanity and a wedding to remember. Bad news is both stories will be going on hiatus for the next few months. The reason being is that now im working and I don't have much time to write but dont worry. After these two chapters are released the next time you see an update will be when the stories are finished. That's right I w9nt be updating again till both stories are complete which means the next update will be in regular intervals, once a week for both stories. It will be a few months but im confidant it will be worth the wait. I've got the outlines for both stories and i think you'll like the new and fresh ideas I've got in-store. Anyway this chapter won't be taken down till the hiatus ends. Till then peace out and thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

So. You guys have probably been wondering where I've been. To put it simply I've been working and it has left little time to write. That being said I've decided to split divided humanity into several smaller ones. part one is first contact and is almost done. It should be out before January and is around 50k words long. Furthermore I have begun laying the foundation for a plan of an idea for a massive crossover series that will be even longer than this one. It will start out as an x -com story before moving on to crossover with halo, titan fall, destiny and finally mass efect in that order. This wonr be out or possibly even started till late 2019.

Next is a wedding to remember. It's almost done and will be out before December as an early Christmas present. im writing the last of it now and i will send it off to my beta before thanksgiving.

Other news is the addition of several one shots ill be releasing in irregular intervals including a star wars/mass effect and Destiny/mass effect crossovers. Other stories included a my hero academia story in which deku will be a bit different from the norm but not to ooc.

I also have planned a few other stories but they are still in the concept phase. I ask that you just wait a little longer because the first batch of stories are coming soon. The hiatus is over and I'm back with fresh new ideas a deeper understanding of the source material and a ton of inspiration. It's the most wonderful time of the year and I'm bringing the gifts.


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